Centre City Elementary School’s new playground is ready for play.
The facility had a soft opening recently with the school’s students, who are first through third graders. It replaces a playground that showed signs of severe wear last spring, according to Principal Jennifer Cavalieri.
“Our other playground was very old and literally falling apart,” she explained. “Last spring, the bridge broke, so we roped it off and had a goal to get a new one built for the students.”
Building on the new play area got underway this summer, after the selection of pieces that would form its foundation.
“We picked out everything this summer, and it took a few months to have it ordered and delivered,” said Cavalieri. “Start to finish though, the entire project only took four days. It was exciting to watch it transform each day.”
The bright green playground has three slides, a tube for crawling and makeshift rock pieces that kids can climb on during recess. The soft opening allowed access by a few Centre City classes to ensure the facility is safe and avoids overcrowding. It opened to everyone on Nov. 29.
According to Cavalieri, the students were pleased to see it finished.
“They’re thrilled to have it and had so much fun watching it come to fruition,” she noted of the students at the unofficial opening. ” … Since everyone wanted to do it, we thought this (a trial run) was a safer way and also allowed them more of an opportunity to explore it without there being a ton of students simultaneously.”
The playground project was the second outdoor renovation for Centre City this year: The school opened its newly renovated courtyard in April.
