Parks Department, Rotary revamp playground
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POLSON — Riverside Park’s playground has a new look. The sand that used to cover the playground has been replaced with a product called Sof-Fall.
Although Sof-Fall looks like wood chips, it is really an engineered wood fiber product with a 10-year limited warranty. It perfect for playgrounds, since it’s non-toxic in case a child decides to eat some, and provides a safe and slip-resistant play surface.
“You can take a handful of Sof-Fall and squeeze it just as hard as you can, and you won’t get any splinters,” Karen Sargeant, Polson Parks Superintendent.
The Polson Rotary Club donated $15,000 to fund the re-do, Sargeant said. Thanks to their generosity, the Parks Department was able to purchase all the wood fiber material, drainage materials and matting.
A 12-inch layer of Sof-Fall also has a fall protection rating of at least 10 to 12 feet, Sargeant said, adding that Riverside Park doesn’t have any play equipment over 10 feet high.
The material meets American With Disabilities Act requirements so a wheelchair can be rolled across the playground.
To begin the remodel, Sargeant and her crew waited until summer was over and school was in session since the Riverside playground had to be closed for the renovation.
First, the Polson Parks Department, in cooperation with the Polson Streets Department, removed the sand and hauled it away. Underneath was an asphalt road that also had to be ripped up and removed. A layer of gravel and then the matting went down, “sort of like a heavy-duty weed barrier,” Sargeant said. Then they installed the drainage system that runs out into a French drain emptying into the grass. Three semi-truck loads of Sof-Fall arrived and were wheelbarrowed, shoveled and raked into place. Some of the spreading could be done with a John Deere tractor borrowed from the Polson Golf Maintenance Department.
Park workers will dig down 6 inches and install mats, which are on backorder, under each swing and slide as soon as they arrive.
From the hillside to the east and the parking lot, Sargeant said the playground used to have “a river runs through it whenever it rains,” but Whealon Concrete installed a solid curb along the parking lot side of the playground diverting water into the shrub bed near the park bathrooms. They will be putting a curb around the entire playground.
Projects such as the Riverside Park playground are just what Rotarians look for, according to Rob Turner, Rotary Club President. Each year Rotary accepts applications from nonprofit organizations and groups that work with young people. The goal is to benefit the youth of the Mission Valley, Turner said. Money for the Polson Festival for Youth and the Rotary Chili Cook-off fund the yearly projects.
This particular $15,000 was slated for youth soccer fields, but that project never came to fruition, so Rotary presented the money to the Parks Department to revamp Riverside Park’s playground.
“Our goal isn’t to sit on the money,” Turner explained, “but to get it back out into the community.”
Sargeant’s goal was to make playgrounds safer and more fun for kids.
Both goals have been met, judging by the number of children who have been enjoying the park.
