Butterfly Playground Project - Washington Township Quarterly, Spring 2009, March-May, Volume 20, No.1
Butterfly Playground Project
Washington Township Quarterly, Spring 2009, March-May, Volume 20, No. 1
As most residents of this community are aware, during the summer of 2006, a six-year-old girl, who was an active Recreation Center member, was tragically killed in a car accident in front of the Recreation Center at the conclusion of the camp day. As a tribute to Yukta Garg and all young children in our community, the Township has decided to begin the playground redesign/renovation included in the park's master plan of 2004.
The Township has entered into a verbal agreement with Yukta's parents, which states that the Trustees will allocate $50,000 for the project. The Garg family has hosted concerts and has been accepting donations to match the funds the Township has allotted. The Recreation Center staff will be seeking grants and public donations to assist with the completion of this project. The total anticipated cost of the Butterfly Playground has been tentatively set at $300,000.
The play space in the park is currently utilized by many groups. Two hundred and fifty children use it weekly during the ten weeks of the summer camp program. It is also used by all the Rec Center preschool programs, the seventy-five children in the after school program, the hundreds of children who watch their siblings during the Saturday youth sports programs, the thousands of children who attend Woodland Lights, and by an unknown number of township families who use the space in their personal time annually. This new playground will benefit thousands of children who frequent Washington Township's Countryside Park.
The goal for this playground is to be different in design from those already in our area, by blending with the natural setting of the Countryside Park. Its butterfly-shaped surface is ADA accessible and will include both creative performing arts spaces and physical challenges for all ages.