Arlington makes upgrades to 5 playgrounds and opens a new skate park
Arlington has upgraded or replaced five city playgrounds, adding safety features and equipment meant to encourage imagination and problem-solving.
De’Onna Garner, parks planning manager for the city, said the $640,000 replacements were made because of the age of the parks.
The new parks include climbing walls, shade canopies, spinners, interactive signs and “geoplex” components — oddly shaped equipment with no set or definite use, something Garner said will help encourage imagination.
“Some of the equipment is a little bit different in the sense that in particular, at one playground when you walk up you have to think about how you’re going to use it,” Garner said. “So from that perspective it encourages sensory learning.”
Fielder Park also includes a new “mommy and me” swing where a parent and child can swing together, according to a news release from the city.
The playground that received upgrades are Fielder Park, Gibbins Park, Carl Knox Jr. Park, Jake Langston Park and Marti van Ravenswaay Park.
Garner said one of the more unique features is the use of artificial turf at Fielder Park.
“It’s been around for a while but this is the first time we’ve used it,” Garner said. “It’s just a new look but it’s cool.”
The city also opened a skate park at Webb Community Park.
Garner said the skate park is a part of a larger master plan developed in 2011. Arlington has skate parks at Vandergriff Park, Burl Wilkes Park and Randol Mill Park, with plans for a total of 20 locations.
The Webb Community Park skate area uses a plaza design. It isn’t what most people would think of as a traditional skateboarding venue, Garner said. There are no bowls — those skate park features that look like empty swimming pools. Instead, the park focuses on flat surfaces and places for skateboarders to grind and do basic flip tricks.
Vandergriff Park’s skate feature, the largest in the city, follows the mainstream view of skate parks, with jumps, bowls and flat surfaces for skating.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 6:00 AM.