Wellington is inviting residents to join in as officials dedicate the newly designed playground at Tiger Shark Cove Park on Saturday, May 5 at 10 a.m.
The playground was initially built in 2000 through a community-led effort spearheaded by parents. The project became a model for other community-led projects, such as Scott’s Place playground, which was built in 2010.
“This project has meant so much to the community,” Community Programs Coordinator Kimberly Henghold told the Town-Crier. “When it was originally built, it was done solely with community volunteers. Their time, effort, heart, soul and sweat went into this playground.”
But 12 years later, the playground was in need of a facelift.
In order to do just that, Wellington went to the experts: Wellington’s children.
In December, a professional designer met with kindergarten through fifth-grade classes to help redesign the park.
Students stuck to the under-the-sea theme and came up with new aquatic-adventure playground equipment, including a “sunken” pirate ship and submarine, Henghold said.
Meanwhile, Wellington improved safety and accessibility with a new wood-fiber floor to make the playground wheelchair-accessible, along with other improvements.
In March, volunteers once again offered their time to help revitalize the park, giving it a new look for a new generation.
Though the park opened earlier this month, its official rededication is slated for next Saturday, when officials will come together to thank community members for their help.
The opening was delayed due to the delay in seating the new Wellington Village Council.
“We wanted to give our new council time to plan to attend,” Henghold said. “We wanted to make sure that they were available to be part of the rededication.”
The event will include speeches from officials, a ribbon-cutting ceremony and, of course, the opportunity to enjoy the new equipment.
Henghold encouraged residents to join in the festivities.
“We would love for everyone to come out and see all of the cool, new features that have been incorporated into the park,” she said. “The custom art is amazing and brings a lot of color and originality to the playground.”
Henghold said that Wellington is grateful that the community came out to support the project once again.
“The second time around, nearly 500 volunteers gave their support to the project,” she said. “It says a lot about the project when the community responds the way they did.”
Tiger Shark Cove Park is located at 13800 Greenbriar Blvd. For more information, call (561) 791-4000.
