Alexandria Community Park is getting new playground equipment.
The city found out in December that the previous structure, which was over 20 years old, was deficient, and they had to take it down.
“This was something that we did not have in the budget,” Alexandria Mayor Andy Schabell said. “This is something we did not see something coming. An insurance adjuster walked through our park and said you’re going to get sued, so we took it down.”
The city asked the park board to shop around for a replacement because they didn’t want to go too long without equipment in the playground.
“It’s a nice place,” Schabell said. “Every time I go there, it’s getting used. So, we want to put something up as quickly as possible and as affordable as possible.”
After issuing proposals and receiving multiple solicitations, the city voted to accept the park board’s recommendation for equipment by Miracle of KY & TN for $70,252.
A rendering of the new playground equipment for Alexandria Community Park. Photo provided | Alexandria
“Not only is it the cheapest, but they also think it is the best because Miracle has designed each piece of equipment to be fully customizable, allowing for additions and subtractions over time should you want to change the feature,” Alexandria City Manager David Plummer said.
Alexandria City Attorney Mike Duncan said the city has money in its general fund to pay for the playground, but because it is such a big ticket item, they would need to do a budget amendment.
“We were already looking at a budget amendment, so we penciled in our rough estimates of the price figure of about $100,000 just as a placeholder in some of our early drafts for that budget amendment,” Plummer said.
The equipment comes with a minimum 15-year warranty. The estimated shipping and installation are seven to eight weeks out, which would make it up and running by May/June.
“They actually have some pieces over here at St. Mary’s, but most notably, they just redid all Presidents Park in Edgewood, and I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews,” Plummer said.
Schabell said he was happy with the proposal because when the city first considered purchasing equipment, it was over $100,000.
“This is $70,000. It is pretty much just as big and as nice; I’m really happy with this,” he said.
Alexandria Community Park is located at 3965 Alexandria Drive.
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