Brittney Burns — Staff Writer
Wesley’s Park will get a major facelift this winter as the Macon County Board of Commissioners approved $113,355 Tuesday night for new equipment and improvements to the playground.
Macon County only received one bid on the project and awarded the bid to TC Strickland Construction out of Shelby, N.C. The bid includes $104,355 in new materials on the playground and $9,000 for labor.
“We were able to do a walk though at the park with representatives from TC Strickland and are confident that their plans for the park will not only address the immediate safety concerns, but will provide the community with an exceptional product that will bring that park up to a first class facility,” said Macon County Manager Derek Roland.
Project specifications include a completely new Play Craft structure on the upper playground utilized by younger children. The slide on the upper section playground will also be complete replaced.
On the lower playground portion of the park, the slides will be replaced and the post holding the structure will also be replaced. A new spin max pod will be installed and a duo spring fling will replace existing structures on the playground.
All of the parts on both the upper and lower playground will be given a lifetime warranty of 10-15 years, depending on the structure.
The rubber matting on both the upper and lower portions of the playground was a major focus of the project specifications, and according to Roland, TC Strickland will be able to remove and replace the top coat on the entire park completely. The new playground surface will have a five year warranty.
“Wesley’s Park is one of the most used facilities in our community and not only are the problems out there a safety concern, but we owe it to our citizens to ensure they have a great place for their children to play,” said Macon County Commissioner Ronnie Beale.
Beale asked about improvements to the water feature also located at Wesley’s Playground and what the plans were for addressing those issues. According to Roland, the Town of Franklin declined to cover the $5,000 needed to fix that facility on their own, even though the park is located in town. Because the park is managed by the county, the town has agreed to possibly work with the county to explore the option of a joint funding venture to fix the computer system that regulates the water flow at the facility.
“I am confident that by the time this is finished, which will definitely be before the busy season of spring, our residents are going to have a good-as-new facility to enjoy,” said Roland.
