CONWAY — Conway Grammar School took its first step toward getting a new, Americans with Disabilities Act compliant playground after the Community Preservation Committee voted unanimously to recommend having a related article on the Annual Town Meeting warrant.
Most of the playground’s equipment was moved to Fournier Road from the former downtown Conway school in 1990 when Conway Grammar School opened, and a vote in the affirmative at the May 11 Annual Town Meeting would designate Community Preservation Act money to replace it.
Selectboard member Philip Kantor has advocated for a new and improved playground, having seen two children break their arms on the swing set.
“There’s no place soft to fall in our playground,” he said at a Selectboard meeting last week. “You fall, you break bones.”
Kantor explained Carlos Nieto of Berkshire Design Group conducted an assessment of the proposed project and estimated some costs. The work would cost $237,650, plus oversight and planning at $42,777, a 15 percent contingency fee of $35,647 and an 8 percent design fee of $19,012. This brings the total cost to $335,087.
“These numbers were really conservative,” Kantor said at last week’s meeting.
He said tentative plans are to dip into a pair of trust funds that Selectboard members oversee to make up the difference once the Community Preservation Act money is depleted. There are also fundraising plans at the school, Kantor said.
According to Nieto’s assessment, the monkey bars are in bad condition, the slide is broken, and much of the playground — including the bounce play equipment and swings — is not in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The asphalt surface, which has several cracks, is considered a trip hazard and the safety surface, made of rubber, requires daily maintenance.
The improvements would include a new rubber surface, replacement of the monkey bars with a net climber, replacement of the swing set, removal of the slide and new asphalt paving.
Malcolm Corse, chair of the Community Preservation Committee, said there is often wasted money in government, but this would be money well spent because it is for children’s safety.
The playground is open to the public around the clock.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or
413-772-0261, ext. 262.