A group of Oak Bluffs parents is raising funds to build a new playground in Niantic Park, adding to the town’s effort to revitalize and rebuild the entire park off Wamsutta Avenue.
At special town meeting in November, 2013, voters approved spending $400,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to restore Niantic Park, and then authorized the town to borrow another $350,000 to complete the project.
Neighborhood residents were involved in planning and design of the new park, but they felt the plan fell short on new playground equipment.
“As we learned more about the overall project, it became clear that only a small portion of the budget had been set aside for the actual playground,” the group wrote in a fundraising letter. “The playground portion of the overall project only included the replacement of the five pieces of surface equipment that are currently in use at Niantic Park. The Niantic Park Playground Project believes we can and should do more.”
The group hopes to raise $46,000 by January 31, 2015. In the first weeks of the fundraising effort, donors and fundraising events yielded $2,215. The money will be used to purchase equipment and materials. The group will get together for a “community build” next spring, and hopes to complete construction in June of 2015.
The Friends of Oak Bluffs is handling donations, which can be mailed to Friends of Oak Bluffs, PO Box 1281, Oak Bluffs, MA, 02557.
