By Gretchen Webster
WESTPORT — A preliminary plan to update the Compo Beach playground was presented at an open house Saturday at Bedford Middle School.
The upgrade, a 100-year anniversary project of the Westport Rotary Club, is slated for a rebuild this September. The open house was planned to gather public opinion about preliminary plans.
The playground, originally built 30 years ago, was remodeled last in 2006 and needs to be refurbished, Jennifer Fava, director of the town’s Parks and Recreation Department, told nearly 40 people who attended the open house.
The two main goals of the project, Fava said, are to improve sight lines for parents and caregivers monitoring their children as they play on the equipment and enhance accessibility for all children.
The Compo Beach playground, which Fava called “a beloved part of the community,” will not be drastically changed, she said, just updated. The gathering provided an opportunity “to get some feedback, to see what people like and don’t like” about the playground, she said.
The remodeling plan was presented by Lisa Deshano, a designer for Play By Design, a professional playground design company in Ithaca, N.Y., and Samantha Owades, co-chair of the Compo Playground Organizing Committee with Bridget Flynn.
The six-day renovation project will be completed by volunteers from the Rotary Club, Westport Young Woman’s League and other community organizations, as well as individuals who may want to volunteer to help, Deshano explained. The start date is slated for Sept. 23, she said.
Some features of the preliminary plan proposed so far by the playground designer nclude:
- Opening up spaces on solid structures that now block longer-range vision.
- Replacing swings and installing a bigger tire swing to accommodate more children.
- Removing the obstacle course and replacing it with a newer or different kind of course.
- Removing spinning equipment that doesn’t work and replacing it with equipment that is higher and won’t be impacted by sand.
- Installing a new sand digger in the toddler area.
- Adding some kind of structure for imaginative play that could resemble a market or some other feature.
- Squaring off fencing around the playground, which will add space to the play area.
- Adding more shade pavilions.
- Install “a seating wall” to provide a place for parents and caregivers watching youngsters.
The location of entrances to the playground was a concern brought up by those attending the open house. Several said they would like to see the playground entirely enclosed. Currently, the perimeter of the playground closest to Long Island Sound is not fenced in.
Suzanne Dodge, chair of the committee that oversaw the 2006 rebuild, said the decision to keep the Sound side of the playground open was controversial, but that it was left open so parents on the beach could watch their children. However, lacking a fence on that side of the playground could pose a danger for children leaving facilities near the water, several parents attending the open house agreed.
The new plan calls for the entire playground to be enclosed, Deshano said. A suggestion also made to relocate the exit, which currently is into the parking lot. Deshano and Fava agreed that moving the exit is a change that definitely should be considered.
Fava was also asked if there are surveillance cameras at the playground so parents could view video recordings in case of an accident. Fava said there are no cameras there now.
The playground project is estimated to cost about $500,000, including grants from the Westport Rotary Club, the Westport Young Woman’s League and donations from a fundraising campaign.
A memorandum of understanding was signed last November between the town and two sponsoring organizaiton, outlining their responsibilities, Rick Benson, centennial chair of the Rotary Cub, explained.
Plans for the playground project will next go before the Parks and Recreation Commission at a February meeting, Benson said.
Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.
When i was a student at Burr Farms, half a century ago, we built a state of the art playground out of used tires. Everybody in town helped to build it , or so it seemed. I was impressed by the dragon. The idea was to re-use things that had been thrown out. The word they used was recycled. We were basically forced to play on garbage. I can clearly remember setting my eyes upon the new structures with a sense of wonder.