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Plans for Jim Thorpe playground equipment advance

Jim Thorpe Mayor Michael Sofranko said he’s frequently asked when new playground equipment is coming to Memorial Park.

Borough council took another step forward this month by approving the submission of an application for a state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources recreation grant.

If received, the grant would go toward the $333,760 estimated project cost for Phase 2 implementation of the Memorial Park Master Site Plan.

Phase 2 includes new playground equipment for children in the 5- to 12-year-old age range and installation of a sensory garden. The sensory garden is intended to be a hands-on educational experience and have space as an outdoor classroom area.

The borough received a combined total grant award of $206,838 for Phase 1, from DCNR and the Department of Community and Economic Development, which includes playground equipment for children in the 2- to 5-year-old age range.

Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said the municipality is still waiting on grant paperwork, but once it is fully executed, it will begin on the design, engineering and permitting work.

“That will be followed by the bid phase,” Sterner said. “If we are lucky, we can have this done by August and move to construction. If things are delayed outside of our control, construction may not take place until 2023.”

The borough’s funding commitment letter for Phase 2, which it approved at its March 10 meeting, pledges matching funds of $83,440 from each of its 2022 and 2023 Community Development Block Grant allocation (for a total of $166,880). “I think this is a great project and it shows there is money being invested back into Memorial Park,” Sofranko said earlier this month. “I’m really glad Phase 2 is going to include a sensory garden as I think that’s something the community needs and will really benefit from.”

The sensory garden will split the age 2-5 and 5-12 playgrounds, but planners said the garden would offer parents clear views of both if they have children playing in each one of those areas.

New playground equipment was one of the top 10 park amenities ranked as extremely important by survey respondents as Jim Thorpe was developing a Master Site Plan.

Other amenities ranked as extremely important included additional lighting, additional restrooms, veteran memorials, a community center, more benches, family summer programs, walking trails, a skating rink and bike racks. The full Memorial Park Master Site Plan is available on the borough website at www.jtborough.org.