BUCKLAND — The new playground at the Buckland Recreation Center is now up and ready for kids.
This is the first real “playground” in Buckland, since the other playground accessible to Buckland children is at the Buckland Shelburne Elementary School in Shelburne. The new playground was built with at least $18,000 in contributions raised by the Recreation Committee and a $32,000 PARC grant from the state’s Parklands Acquisition and Renovations for Communities program. Still to come are new picnic tables that can be made shady with sun umbrellas on them. All together, there will be nearly $60,000 worth of furnishings in the park.
“We’re really excited about it,” said Cynthia Schwartz, who chairs the Buckland Recreation Committee. “It’s just so fortunate we got that grant. The camp’s going really well,” said Schwartz, referring to the annual summer camp held weekdays at the Recreation Center.
After the town’s 53-year-old swimming pool failed and had to be removed, the Recreation Committee wanted to provide something for the children who come to the park throughout the summer.
The new playground includes a swing set, “tarantula” monkey bars, a play structure with two slides, a 10-spinner (like a merry-go-round, but with 10 places for children to sit or stand as it goes around), and a jacks-like climbing structure with netting.
Townspeople still want a swimming pool and, with matching funds to come from a $500,000 anonymous donation, the Recreation Committee is hoping to secure another PARC grant that will provide the means to build a new pool. If the town is awarded another PARC grant, the earliest a pool could be built would be 2020.
Besides the playground, the town is planning to build a new road and parking area this summer. The old road and the old swimming pool were too close to Clesson Brook.