This Saturday is the grand reopening of Douglass Park. The park’s undergone renovations over the past year to improve infrastructure and add new features that will help re-ignite interest in the Northeast Champaign community.
“We’ve been kind of teasing the renovations amongst the community,” said Chelsea Norton, Marketing Manager of the Champaign Park District.
While some community members might have gone by and seen some work being done, it would have been hard to tell until very recently, what exactly was going down at Douglass Park.
“Some people have been asking me, you know, what’s been going on and what are you guys building out here at the park,” said Tiffany White, Douglass Park Manager. “It’s been fun to see people taking an interest back in Douglass Park.”
So. What exactly is happening at Douglass Park?
Well, for starters, there was a new playground that was built and it’s geared more towards the safety and accessibility of youngsters. The playground will forego the usual wood chips and will have a layer of sponge-like stuff to protect from falls.
The coolest part about the new playground, though, according to White and Norton is that the playground was actually partially designed by the after-school program kids at Douglass Community Center.
“Our park planners came to the community center and just sat down with the kids,” said Norton. “It was so fun. We just gave the kids paper and crayons and just asked them about having fun. There was a lot of talk about spider webs and now there’s a climbing rope wall thing that was inspired by that.”
Another update at Douglass Park is the finishing of the fitness trail. The trail itself was completed in October, but this spring park planners have added fitness equipment along the way for a quick outdoor workout. There’s a cardio stepper, ab crunch machine, and a number of other outdoor fitness tools for those looking for a fun and free workout.
The most major of the updates, though, is the new splash pad. Basically, the splash pad will provide relief on a hot day for kids and adults alike. Running during peak hours of heat, the artsy structures will essentially shoot water all over the place while folks bask in the sun. There’s one of these currently at Hessel Park and it’s been extremely popular, so park planners decided to bring one to the community surrounding Douglass Park.
“This is really serving, most importantly, the community surrounding the park that may not have the opportunity to go participate and hang out at a splash pad at Hessel Park.”
You can check out all of the renovations this weekend when the Champaign Park District hosts the grand reopening. They’ll be demonstrating the splash pad for the first time, demonstrating the fitness trail, and showing off the updated park. There will also be snacks and live music.
