MORGANTOWN — It’s summertime, and kids are playing outside, hitting the pool and enjoying the sunshine. Marilla Park recently gave its playground a facelift — right in time for all that summer fun.
Executive Director of the Board of Park and Recreation Commissioners Melissa Wiles said the playground comes as a replacement for some outdated equipment that stood at the park for over 25 years.
“What we did was ADA acceptable equipment. Updated obviously to the 21st century,” she said.
The new playground is brightly colored, and instead of gravel has a soft, springy play surface. It also has a new slide, swings and a merry-go-round with seatbelts.
Wiles said Marilla is one of BOPARC’s more popular parks, given its walking distance to the adjacent neighborhoods. She said it’s proximity to the interstate and downtown Morgantown makes it a easy choice.
“From a safety perspective is the biggest reason to change out equipment more often than not. We also right now are in the process of trying to replace all of our playground equipment through our Play for All Program,” said Wiles.
She said after assessment, BOPARC realized a lot of its playground equipment needed an upgrade. The new facilities at Marilla were funded by a federal Community Development Block Grant. The total cost was around $100,000.
According to BOPARC’s website the Play for All Playground Project is a partnership with WVU Medicine that “will help create more inclusive and accessible playgrounds throughout Morgantown’s City Parks.”
Wiles said it’s wonderful to be able to offer the update to the public.
“Our public, our patrons that’s what makes BOPARC what we are. Especially kids, we cater to kids. We have a lot of summer programs for kids. They are the future of Morgantown and the future of BOPARC,” she said.
Although, there’s nothing wrong with being a kid at heart, either.
“Hey, I will admit I did swing on those new swings,” said Wiles.
Twitter @DominionPostWV
