PEABODY – The City hosted a ribbon cutting at Lt. Ross Park on Wednesday afternoon for the grand re-opening of CyTenney Playground, and over 50 lucky third graders from the John E. McCarthy Elementary School got to be the first kids to test out the new playground.
“This is one of the best playgrounds we have in our community, and it took a number of months and even over a year to make this happen. … This is very special to have all of you here today,” Mayor Ted Bettencourt said.
He added, “My children play at this park many days, many afternoons. My little guy can’t wait to get in here. … This is so special, and I’m so blessed and very fortunate to be a part of this. I just think of all the smiles and the laughter and the happiness that this park is going to provide to kids and families to be able to play together.”
Ward 5 Councilor Dave Gamache said, “This is what everybody envisioned years ago, that we would still have a playground like this that brings the local community together, and it gives a place for people to come down here with their children and have them mingle and enjoy the company of their same age groups.”
He added, “I’m just so happy that we are continuing to bring this forward. It’s a beautiful facility.”
Director of Recreation, Parks, and Forestry Jen Davis spoke about how she didn’t want the new CyTenney Playground at Lt. Ross Park to be like a traditional, “cookie cutter” playground.
“This is a legacy playground,” she said. “It’s going to be here, you’ll see this equipment for another 30-40 years. It’s going to last, so enjoy it. Have fun!”
New England Recreation Group (NERG) Vice President Mark Gallagher attended Wednesday’s park re-opening since NERG designed, supplied and installed all the equipment used for the CyTenney Playground renovation. He explained why the new playground equipment will last for at least a few decades.
“The bigger pieces that you see there … that’s made out of material called GFRC, which stands for glass fiber reinforced concrete,” Gallagher said. “It’s a stronger, heartier material, especially for New England, which you don’t have to worry about rusting, paint chipping, things like that.”
He added that “the nice thing about (GFRC) is you can customize and create anything” and emphasized that the new CyTenney Playground is completely customized.
“It just gives a playground like this a unique feel,” he said. “It’s not cookie cutter like a lot of others.”
Gallagher said the playground was a “hybrid” which blends the “old, traditional” equipment, like the swing set, with “new, cool stuff,” like the new, climbable structures and pirate ship themed slide.
Lt. Ross Park’s new playground features: a tire swing, two two-person swings, four typical swings, an accessible swing, two buddy benches, five other benches, two tables, a communication board, outdoor music features, a pirate-ship-themed slide and play structure and two additional play structures that use materials that make it look wooden and tree-like.
Davis added that – even though the new CyTenney Playground at Lt. Ross Park is complete – Recreation, Parks and Forestry will continue its fundraising efforts so it is able to renovate the Adventures for Angels playground, which is right next to the CyTenney Playground and simply divided by fencing. Davis said the Adventures for Angels playground will likely need to be replaced within the next 10 years.
Scott McAllister-Dionne, McCarthy Elementary third grade teacher, said the young students’ eyes “lit up” when they arrived at Lt. Ross Park.
“I think that’s important for them to really realize they’re part of their community because there are eight other elementary schools here, and they’re all kind of isolated in their bubbles during the day, so when they get to come together and see a lot of City officials, especially in the neighborhood the school’s in, I think it’s a great opportunity for them,” he said.
McAllister-Dionne said he was grateful the City of Peabody decided to include McCarthy Elementary in Wednesday’s celebration, and he added that “hopefully they’ll talk to their grown ups at home about bringing them here and really using it.”
