Work begins on Burton Field improvements

• Playground equipment

New play equipment is being installed at the southeast corner of Burton Field, next to the corner of 10th and Oak streets. The new playground is the first phase of a master plan for the park that includes relocating the hockey rink, creating one new Little League baseball diamond and constructing a new restroom and warming house building. Photo by Randy Hanson

Talk about it

New play equipment is being installed at the southeast corner of Burton Field, next to the corner of 10th and Oak streets. The new playground is the first phase of a master plan for the park that includes relocating the hockey rink, creating one new Little League baseball diamond and constructing a new restroom and warming house building.

Photo by Randy Hanson

More than $50,000 of new play equipment is being installed at Burton Field.

The installation of the slides, swings and things to climb on is the first phase of a master plan that was approved by the City Council last month.

The idea is to change parkland that historically has been mostly athletic fields into a neighborhood park. Public Works and Parks Director Tom Zeuli now refers to it as Burton Park.

The master plan, which will be completed in phases over an unspecified number of years, includes creating one new Little League baseball diamond, relocating the hockey rink and the skating area, and building a new restroom and warming house facility.

The plan also calls for interior sidewalks, a rain garden and more shade trees.

The City Council approved the purchase of $52,588 worth of play equipment in July.

Monday night, the council learned that an additional $4,400 was needed for mulch and safety-zone edging for the play area.

In a memo to council members, Zeuli said changes to the layout of the play area had led to the need for more mulch and edging. The mulch is used to cushion any falls that youngsters take while playing on the equipment.

Zeuli wasn’t at the meeting to answer council members’ questions about the additional spending.

In the memo, he recommended using unspent money from the Public Works and Park Department’s current budget for the installation of the mulch and edging.

The council, with some hesitancy, approved Zeuli’s request.

Mayor Alan Burchill said the project needed to be finished.

Tags: communities, entertainment, outdoors