photo by: Rochelle Valverde

New playground equipment at Broken Arrow Park is pictured on Dec. 3, 2021.

For those who grew up in Lawrence in the 1970s or ’80s and remember the excitement — and perhaps a bit of trepidation — that came with ascending the ladder of the multi-tiered metal rocket ship at Broken Arrow Park, its new playground equipment may look familiar.

Broken Arrow Park is one of several city parks to get new equipment as part of the Lawrence Parks and Recreation Department’s playground equipment replacement program. The program was established in recent years to upgrade the city’s 38 playgrounds, some of which had equipment that was decades old.

Though the rocket ship slide that was installed in Broken Arrow Park in 1971 has been gone for years, it likely lives in the minds of many Lawrence townies who went to that playground in the 1970s and ’80s while the rocket was there. Parks and Rec Director Derek Rogers, who grew up in Lawrence, also recalled the rocket, including the way it seemed to sway with the wind. Though the park’s new playground equipment is surely sturdier than its predecessor, Rogers said the old metal rocket inspired the choice of equipment for the park.

“We went with the historic theme of a rocket ship,” Rogers said. “… This one is really cool, and it’s got a lot more interactive surfaces for different ages and abilities.”

The new playground equipment at Broken Arrow Park, which was installed two weeks ago, includes a multi-tiered rocket, with not one but three slides of different heights and designs. The new equipment also includes climbing walls, spinning chairs, and other activities.

The last piece of a playground upgrade at South Park was also recently completed. The main playground structure at the park was replaced in 2019, and in recent days the city installed the new surface of the adjacent equipment geared toward younger children and reopened that area.

The new South Park playground equipment, which is for preschool-age children, includes a playhouse and fire engine, replacing the old metal fire engine that was at the park for years. Other features include a new swing with scoop seats and panels with musical components and other interactive surfaces. Though the new section of the park is now open, Assistant Parks and Rec Director Mark Hecker said that a spinning chair would also be added once it arrives.

photo by: Rochelle Valverde

New playground equipment is pictured at South Park on Dec. 2, 2021.

The city also planned to replace the playground equipment at Veterans Park this year, but Hecker said an issue with the order caused a delay. He said the city now expects the new equipment to arrive in the next month, and that it will be installed this winter or this spring.

This is the fourth year of the city’s playground equipment replacement program, which Rogers said was created to address the city’s aging playgrounds. He said the city started with the oldest playgrounds, which dated to as long as 40 years ago.

Specifically, the city allocated $100,000 in 2018 to replace the South Park playground, according to the city’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). In 2019, $100,000 went toward replacing the playground and shelter at Burcham Park, and the 2020 budget included another $100,000 for additional playground replacements. Next year, there is $206,000 budgeted for playground replacements at Lyons Park and Stonegate Park.

Additional funds are also allocated to add splash pads to Burroughs Creek Park and Lyons Park. Hecker said the installation of the splash pad at Burroughs Creek Park was also delayed and is now expected to begin in the spring. The splash pad at Lyons Park is also scheduled for next year.

In the coming years, the department expects the updates to continue.

Hecker said the department did an audit of the city’s 38 playgrounds, and for each project works with the neighborhood as updates are planned. He said the city usually tries to do one large playground and one small playground per year.

“Basically what we did in our CIP was put in two playgrounds per year for the next five years,” Hecker said. “So we’re just going to keep hitting one major one and one minor one each year.”