Greenwood is working to build a small playground that will appeal to children who love firetrucks and firefighting.
Kids will be able to play safely between the Greenwood Police and Fire Departments after the new play pocket, or playground, is built this spring.
The Greenwood fire and parks departments and the Greenwood Rotary Club have collaborated and split the cost on a new playground that will cost about $96,000 to construct. The play pocket will be ready by this summer, parks director Rob Taggart said.
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Located near the Greenwood amphitheatre, the play pocket will sit across Pleasant Creek from Greenwood Fire Station 91. The play pocket was an idea of Greenwood Fire Chief James Sipes.
A firefighting theme and design will feature Station 91 decals and replicate fire engine equipment, Taggart said.
The fire department is contributing about $50,000 to the design and construction, Taggart said. The parks department will cover about $30,000 and the Greenwood Rotary Club will pay the remaining amount up to about $20,000, Taggart said.
“Chief Sipes came to me raving about our play pockets with an idea to have one built behind Station 91 with a really neat firefighting theme,” Taggart said.
The Greenwood Rotary Club had been waiting on an opportunity to get involved with the parks department to work on a joint project and the fire department-themed play pocket was a perfect opportunity, president Rob Bailey said.
The play pocket will take about 10 weeks to build and should be ready by this spring or early summer, Taggart said. The parks department is also extending its trail system from Craig Park through Surina Square, where the community center is located, connecting Smith Valley to Main Street. That project will be complete later this year, Taggart said.
“This is a great partnership between the Rotary Club, fire and parks department,” Taggart said. “When Sipes came to us with his idea, it worked perfectly with linking our trails and our current play pockets around Craig Park, the Rotary Club wanted in on the project and this just took off.”
