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Oct 16, 2024

Photos: Valleyside Park in northwest Willmar to get updated playground equipment - West Central Tribune | News, weather, sports from Willmar Minnesota

WILLMAR — Children on the northwest side of Willmar will have a new playground once spring arrives. Workers with the Willmar Public Works Department were busy leveling off the sloped ground at

WILLMAR — Children on the northwest side of Willmar will have a new playground once spring arrives.

Workers with the Willmar Public Works Department were busy leveling off the sloped ground at Valleyside Park, just off Seventh Avenue Northwest, on Monday to make room for new playground equipment scheduled to be installed next week.

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Public Works employee Lynn Kluver said that the site may have appeared flat to the naked eye, but actually had a difference of nearly 30 inches in height from corner to corner due to the rising slope from the street.

"The nice thing about this is some of these apartments can see the kids if they do start utilizing this," Kluver said, noting the Edgeview Apartments just north and east of the park.

Kluver added that the playground will include a zip line similar to the one at the Destination Playground at Robbins Island Regional Park.

"That seems like it's very popular with parks nowadays," he said. "The city did a wildflower garden behind there a couple of years ago, and that's really turned out well. Slowly but surely, they're improving things."

In addition to leveling out the playground site itself, Willmar Public Works will have to add additional landscaping to contain future water runoff.

"What we've been doing is putting French drains in," Kluver explained. "Basically, bore a big hole down six, eight feet, whatever, and fill those with sewer rock, and then any surface water just collects in those holes and fades away. It's actually working really well for us."

Former Public Works director Gary Manzer initially proposed the concept, which has worked out well as a department-wide approach to water runoff control.

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"Most of the parks have gone to that," Kluver said. "When we tried the first ones, we were a little skeptical, and I'll be darned if they didn't work. And we started in some of the worst ground (for drainage), and that's what they've been doing, and it's working good."

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