Monday, August 23, 2010
Ground was broken Monday for The Creekside Playground and Sprayground, the first demonstration project for the planned park system The Parklands of Floyds Fork.
The $1.86 million playground is expected to open in the spring of next year. Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government provided $1.5 million of the project’s costs, with private donations providing the remainder.
The city’s Metro Parks department is managing construction, with Lexington-based Marrillia Design and Construction serving as general contractor.
“It’s exciting to break ground on a project that in the short term will provide new play and recreation opportunities for children and families of this area,” Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson said in a news release. “It’s also the beginning of a visionary project that will add to Louisville’s strong legacy of parks and recreation for generations to come.”
The Parklands is the 4,000-acre public park system that the nonprofit 21st Century Parks plans to develop and manage along the Floyds Fork watershed in Eastern and Southeastern Jefferson County.
The new playground will be part of Beckley Creek Park, one of the four major parks to be created within The Parklands, next to the future site of the Egg Lawn, a 30-acre great lawn for the park.
The playground will feature several swings, slides and climbing structures, plus a separate splash-play area with interactive water-spray activities. It will have a shaded picnic shelter and fully accessible restrooms.
In addition to the playground, 21st Century Parks also has started work on its first environmental improvement project, working to remove plants not native to Kentucky from forested areas between Seatonville and Broad Run roads in southern Louisville. That area is expected to become Turkey Run Park.
More than 80 percent of The Parklands is expected to be maintained in its natural state.