Kids, speak up! Playground coming soon to Margaret McKenny Park in SE Olympia

A new playground is coming to Margaret McKenny Park in southeast Olympia, and the city wants input from residents on the project’s design.

Located at 3111 21st Ave. SE, the park will include playground equipment for ages 2-5 and ages 5-12. An online survey is asking people to vote for their favorite design from six options.

The survey can be found at www.surveymonkey.com/r/mmplayground until April 10. After that, the city will then seek a contractor to build the public’s favorite selection. Construction is scheduled to begin this fall.

The new vandalism-resistant playground equipment will be installed on a grassy meadow that borders 21st Avenue. The current site also includes a basketball hoop, swings, picnic tables and a short trail loop.

Parks planner Sarah Giannobile told the Olympia City Council this week that the contractor will be required to install a buffer between the play sets for the different age groups and ensure the playground is accessible to children with disabilities. The project has a budget of $80,000 she said, adding that nearly 700 people had taken the online survey as of Tuesday.

The proposed designs feature options ranging from monkey bars and rock-climbing walls to slides and see-saws. The playground also will incorporate some part of Margaret McKenny’s legacy, Giannobile said.

McKenny was a local educator and naturalist who led the fight to save Watershed Park from development in 1955. The Olympia Historical Society reports that McKenny wrote several books on nature and was an expert on mushrooms who wrote the definitive “Mushrooms of Field and Wood.” She also is the namesake for Margaret McKenny Elementary School in southeast Olympia.

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 5:45 AM with the headline "Kids, speak up! Playground coming soon to Margaret McKenny Park in SE Olympia."