Renovations, New Equipment Planned for Association Park Playground

in Hightstown will be getting a makeover, possibly in time for summer.

The plan is to paint the fire truck jungle gym, replace the sand in the sandbox area, install a new water fountain, benches and trash cans, install a new toddler swing set, put new seats and hardware on the existing swings, and replace the safety surfacing throughout the playground, Beverly Asselstine, Parks and Recreation Commission secretary, said in an email Wednesday. 

“We're moving forward with our playground plans this year based on a lot of research and planning that has taken place over the last couple years.” Asselstine said.

That research and planning has included consulting the Borough’s master plan, inspecting the park, surveying the community at summer concerts, and talking with various departments, including Public Works, Environmental Commission and the police department. 

Asselstine said they also took into consideration the sentimental value of some of the existing equipment, such as the fire truck jungle gym.

“We will finalize everything in the next few weeks, so we hope to have everything ready for play by summer,” Asselstine said.

The Parks and Recreation Commission also plans to install a new piece of climbing equipment for children ages five through 11, however depending on the costs of the other projects it may not be installed for a couple of years, according to Asselstine. 

The project will be paid for with money that was raised from past Hightstown Triathlons.

“We've been accumulating a nest egg to do a bigger project,” Asselstine said.

The Parks and Recreation Commission is hoping to get the community involved by holding a community day to help with the renovation project, Asselstine said.

“We've already had community volunteers in Association Park, including Girl Scouts who have taken part in some gardening clean up in the park,” Asselstine said.

Eagle Scout candidate Ryan Lanphear is also working on a proposal to build a venue for events in the park as part of his community service project. He presented the project to the Borough Council last September. 

“We're very excited about the plans. It's very important to us to finally bring something like this to the implementation stage after many years of working on ideas,” Asselstine said.