By VERNON ROBISON
The Progress
After months of being locked down, surrounded by construction fencing, the two playgrounds at the Ron Lewis Park in Moapa are about to be re-opened to local children; and just in time for cooler autumn weather. Both playgrounds have gone through extensive renovations in recent months involving nearly $400,000 in new equipment and safety surfaces.
One of the two playgrounds is expected to be reopening this week. The other may be a few more weeks out as it is awaiting some back-ordered equipment to finish the renovation.
“We have soccer games starting next week and we are expecting to have at least the one playground open for kids to use that evening,” said local Parks and Rec. Director John Stastny in an interview last week.
The larger playground adjacent to the ballfields just north of the Justice Court building is the one that is delayed. Of course, to look at it, the areas appears to be completed. All of the play equipment is installed including a large covered slide structure, a swing set, two new sand-digging toys, and underneath it all, a soft rubberized safety surface.
This playground was carefully planned with community input, Stastny said. County staffers sat down with Bob Lyman and John Wray, both of them Moapa Town Advisory Board members at the time, and got feedback on what the community wanted.
“What we got in this playgroun was 100 percent from that feedback,” Stastny said. “In fact, there are features here that aren’t necessarily standard to county playgrounds nowadays: like the swingsets. But John and Bob were adamant that it was important to keep those swings. So that was incorporated into the plans.”
What is still missing is a small shade structure to cover the park benches. The component parts of that structure are on back order and the contractor is on hold until they get in, Stastny said.
“I am afraid that is three weeks to a month out still before we can open that side,” Stastny said.
But the other playground, located just to the west of the court building, next to the pavilion, is expected to be fully open this week. It also features all new equipment, new shade structures and replaced safety surfaces on the ground.
But one big change to this playground is that it is fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
“That is the most premium piece and the most valuable part of the playground right there,” said Stastny pointing to a large red box structure on one end of the playground.
This feature has ramps leading up from ground level into a large chamber with bench seating on each side and plenty of space for a wheelchair or two in the middle. The entire feature swings back and forth.
“That part is super-expensive because it meets all ADA requirements,” Stastny said. “That means that it had to get approval from ADA administrators that evaluate it and sign off and put their stamp on it.”
Perhaps the most intriguing part about the equipment updates on this second playground was where it came from. Plans for the new equipment were never presented or reviewed by community members in advance.
“We knew that they were going to be putting in a new shade structure and updating the safety surface which was badly worn,” Stastny said. “But a whole new playground here was 100 percent a surprise. All of a sudden crews just came in and tore everything out at once. We thought they had made a mistake.”
Stastny said it is still a bit of a mystery where the funding came from for the new equipment and exactly who authorized it. But now that the new playground is installed and ready to be opened, he recognizes its value to the community.
Perhaps most bewildered by the unexpected replacement was the family of the late Ron Lewis. The old equipment had been installed more than a dozen years ago as part of an Eagle Scout project by Ron’s son Alma Lewis. That equipment had been gifted to the community by the Lewis family in honor of Ron Lewis, the park’s namesake.
Stastny regretted to say that there had been some hurt feelings and frustration on the part of the Lewis family because they had not been informed of the sudden change. He acknowledged that there ought to have been better communication with the community on the replacement from county staffers.
“We certainly wouldn’t minimize, in any way, the gift that the Lewis family gave to the community with this park,” Stastny said. “The playground being here all these years has been invaluable. And it has also sparked other county projects like the pavilion, which would probably not be here without the playground.”
But Stastny emphasized that the new equipment would continue to honor that community gift.
“The park is still named after Mr. Lewis and we can even install a placard that recognizes that the playground was established by Alma Lewis’ Eagle Scout project,” Stastny said. “We will still honor all of that history because it is worthy of honoring. But it has all now been updated and brought into the current age to continue remembering that gift to the community well into the future.”
