News

Nov 01, 2024

Twiggs Park playground equipment replacement: Public input sought - Evanston RoundTable

Sign up for our free newsletter to have Evanston news delivered directly to your inbox every weekday! Residents have an opportunity to give input for replacement playground equipment at Twiggs Park

Sign up for our free newsletter to have Evanston news delivered directly to your inbox every weekday!

Residents have an opportunity to give input for replacement playground equipment at Twiggs Park for the next two weeks. This feedback period kicked off Wednesday night with a community engagement session held by the city at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center.

From now until Nov. 15, those with any thoughts or suggestions can email Stefanie Levine, project manager for a playground equipment change at Twiggs Park, 1901 Simpson St.

Kids have played on the playground now at the park for roughly 30 years, according to Levine. The elements and use have left the equipment in rough shape.

“We’ve had to remove a lot of the equipment because it’s unsafe,” said Fifth Ward Council Member Bobby Burns, who attended the meeting.

Twiggs Park has two playgrounds ready for renovation — one built for the 2- to 5-year-old age range, and another built for the 5-to-12 age range.

Levine explained that the city has a total of $450,000 available to replace the two play sets, but some of the funds come with strings attached.

The $250,000 allocated for the larger playset came from a pandemic-era community development block grant — that means this playground space must incorporate social distancing to comply with the grant rules.

Plenty of play equipment can still fit within these guidelines, like obstacle or “ninja” courses, climbing features and more.

“We feel like there’s an opportunity for this type of thing in a playground,” Levine said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing.”

The smaller playground has no restrictions on its funding usage.

The city also hopes to update some features like pavement, drinking fountains and benches during this project. Levine cautioned, though, that they don’t expect the allocated $450,000 to cover all of this.

Fewer than a dozen people attended the meeting to share play suggestions, including Parks and Recreation board members Rob Bush, Ellie Shevick, Mary Rosinski and Fifth Ward Council Member Bobby Burns.

The group brainstormed what elements might work at the park.

“I’d love to see child development in mind at playgrounds,” Shevick said. “I think there’s a lot of missed opportunities of sensory play for kids.”

She also suggested a space that teens could gather in, like a climbing wall to sit atop of.

Twiggs Park neighbor Scott Mangum and his son shared a few suggestions, from zipline features and springboards to a pit for gaga ball, a popular and gentler dodgeball variation.

Council Member Burns recently met with 20 kids who regularly use Twiggs Park during summer programming for Family Focus across the street from the park.

Those kids offered tons of suggestions that Burns shared with the crowd and Levine, including space for sports like basketball, football and gymnastics, spinning features to stand or sit on, tire swings, ropes to climb upward or in a web and more.

Any residents who couldn’t make the meeting can still email Levine ([email protected]) with thoughts or suggestions until Nov. 14. After that, she will take the suggestions to manufacturers and see what equipment they can get while staying on budget.

“I think we can be kind of creative here,” Levine said. “I think it’d be good to understand what kind of play interests the community has, and then push that back onto the manufacturers to work within.”

In the coming months, the city will hold another meeting with a few sample designs from manufacturers to get another round of input.

Bush also asked Levine if they could bring these designs directly to the board.

Once a design is chosen, Levine hopes construction will begin in late summer or early fall of 2025.

As a financial supporter of the RoundTable, your contribution throughout the year powers our work covering all the vital news that matters in Evanston! Please consider making an additional gift!

Your contribution is tax-deductible. We appreciate your support!

Your commitment as a MONTHLY SUSTAINING DONOR helps us the most!

Recurring contributions – at all levels – enable us to build a viable newsroom that will serve Evanston for the next 25 years! Your donation may qualify you for a great gift - click here to learn more.

Your contribution is tax-deductible. We appreciate your support!

Margo Milanowski is a staff reporter at the RoundTable. She graduated from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in 2022 with a degree in journalism. She also pursued a minor in Environmental... More by Margo Milanowski