The old public playground is not what it used to be. There’s the spring-laden duck of death that rocks back and forth. Sometimes a kid will rock so hard they get bucked off or nearly knock themselves out. And then there’s the spinning Merry-Go-Round that has put the fear of flight and injury into countless kids. How many have spun the giant metal wheel to warp speed before either jumping on off?

Village of Sloatsburg Trustee and Deputy Mayor helped steer the Brook Street Park improvement project — the park will be completely updated, beginning after Labor Day. The old stainless steel slide and other playground equipment will be replaced, along with the addition of significant poured-in-place play areas and pathways.

Sometime soon after Labor Day, when the Sloatsburg Community Pool closes for the season, Brook Street Park playground will undergo a major tear-down and then a complete renovation and upgrade. Brook Street Park will get all new surfacing, playground sets, a new, updated tiny tot area, along with other tweaks. The Village of Sloatsburg Board passed a resolution in April of this year to bond some $289,000 for the improvements.

Sloatsburger Joyce Donohue worked with a neighborhood committee and presented a a Brook Street Park improvement plan to the Village Board in February that led to a series of workshops and the adoption of an improvement plan and budget – the new park should be complete fall 2018.

Sloatsburg Trustee and Deputy Mayor Peter Akey said that time and two 100-year storms (Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012) have impacted the quality and safety of the park playground and equipment. After a regular inspection of the site last year, the Village was faced with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) non-compliance and insurance issues, wear of equipment, degrading quality of the sand surfaces, and the need to update nearly everything.

“We wanted to be pro-active for the safety of the children,” said Akey.

Cross section sample of the poured-in-place material that will be used at Brook Street Park playground.

The effort to revitalize Brook Street Park was kick-started by Sloatsburger Joyce Donohue, who said she encountered many people who were concerned with the condition of the playground and equipment.

While the Village had reviewed options for the park, Donohue worked with Akey as a community volunteer and eventually put together such a detailed park renovation proposal that the Village Board accelerated the Brook Street Park project timeline. Donohue’s mid-February 2018 proposal included illustrations of new playground sets, costs and a vendors’ list.

With several other Village bonds expiring, the Village Board decided to move ahead and upgrade and revitalize Brook Street Park. The project was workshopped through the winter, with a public hearing in early spring and a final bond resolution for the park taking place in April 2018.

Donohue’s Brook Street Park involvement led to her recent appointment to the Sloatsburg Zoning Board of Appeals. She is also an active member of the committee managing Sloatsburg’s 90th anniversary celebration.

Tetherball is another old playground favorite that has fallen out of favor on contemporary playgrounds.

A large chunk of the cost for Brook Street revolves around surface coverings. Currently much of the playground is covered in sand, which is no longer ADA compliant plus costs the village in seasonal maintenance.

Brook Street Park will contain nearly $100,000 worth of poured-in-place (PIP) surface that be installed around the main playground sets.  The park will include new asphalt (decorative stone or EWF) pathways to the playground. The surface around the swings will be EWF — a specially engineer and kids safe wood fiber.

PIP surface is a semi-rigid but flexible rubberized material that is then poured over a foundation area. The PIP surface comes with a 7-10 year warranty.

The Brook Street Park teardown is scheduled to begin after Labor Day, with the new playground areas in place soon thereafter. The park project will also include a refitting of the basketball courts with new nets. For more information on the project, call Village Hall.

A series of proposed Brook Street Park playground designs and configurations with PIP material that hang in the Sloatsburg Village Hall offices. The display was used to workshop the plan and does not represent exact equipment or placement of playground features.Note: the Brook Street Park playground will look similar.