Williams PTO Plans $330K Playground Improvement
PITTSFIELD, Mass.— The Williams Elementary School Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) has launched a $330,000 initiative to revamp its playground
"The current playground, there's a lot of issues with it. The equipment is out of date, a lot of safety concerns with play surfaces, age of equipment, accessibility, and kind of inclusion of play with the current setup that they have," PTO member Joseph Simon explained.
"So the new playground looks to kind of address a lot of those issues with modern, new equipment, looking to try to have an inclusion area that will be accessible from the school so that way we can accommodate all students and there would also be some opportunities for interactive play and imaginative play in those areas."
On Tuesday, the Parks Commission gave a positive recommendation for the project's request of $100,000 in Community Preservation Act funding. The CPA committee approved an eligibility application for the project with the caveat of Parks Commission support.
The school's PTO has been working on the effort for about two years and would like to see it completed this fall. Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resource Manager James McGrath has been tuned into the conversation.
Simon explained that funding for these types of projects is "lacking." The PTO has raised about $10,000 internally with a goal of $20,000 and will also be looking at private grants and sponsorships.
"The other two paths will be through the City of Pittsfield, I have a tentative meeting with the mayor to talk to him about that," he said.
"And the third was through the CPA fund."
In its CPA application, the PTO commitment is $20,000, there is a $110,000 CapEx request to the city, a $100,000 CPA request, and $100,000 in grants, sponsorships, and corporate donations.
The PTO has looked at a couple of different proposals from the city's vendor for playground equipment that range from $150,000 to $200,000. Simon reported that another city elementary school recently completed a project half the size for about $86,000. Simon is projecting around $180,000 for the equipment.
Other proposed upgrades include an accessible pathway, a playing surface, sun screening, and benches. The PTO is also looking to offer areas of different age-appropriate equipment.
The current playground is far from the school building and has varied elements that are set apart from one another.
"All in all, we're looking around ($330,000,) which we know is an aggressive target but we're open to the opportunity to phase if we need to," Simon said.
"But we'd like to try to do it all at once."
He reported that the school and superintendent are on board with the project.
The CPA committee will decide on funding applications in the spring and the City Council will vote on them in May or June.
"I know that it's definitely due for an upgrade because I know exactly when those were installed," Commissioner Anthony DeMartino said.
In October, Williams was designated as a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. The award program honors high-performing schools and institutions making great strides in closing achievement gaps.
Only eight other schools in the state have received the designation this year, 356 nationally. According to state assessments, Williams scored in the top 15 percent in English and mathematics.
Tags: parks & rec, playgrounds,
