LAKEHURST – Students and staff had something to look forward to as they returned to the borough elementary school this week – new playground equipment that was installed over the summer.
School Business Administrator Joseph Firetto told The Manchester Times that “our old playground equipment was severely damaged this past year by a combination of wear and tear and vandalism that occurred on the premises after hours earlier in the school year.”
“Our previous playground provider, Gametime, could not replace the damaged equipment unless they custom made parts to retrofit to the outdated equipment, however, the playground would not have a warranty or be insurable because it is outdated,” he added. “When we received this quote in excess of $30,000, we knew that we needed to invest in a safe, and exciting new space for our students for future generations.”
“This prompted us to apply for the Local Recreation Improvement Grant this past spring in the amount of $75,000. We were awarded the maximum award of $69,700 solely for this playground project,” Firetto said.
“The total project cost was just over $114,000 for removal of the previous 30-year-old playground and installation of the new equipment was only $44,000. This project has been on our long-range facility plan for years, but now we are happy that we were able to save up for this so the children could once again have a safe place to play for the many years to come,” he said.
“KOMPAN Playgrounds completed the job via state contract and completed the job right after the kids left for summer vacation. The project took about seven days to complete and we are extremely happy with the results. The district plans on going out again this year for the Local Recreation Improvement Grant to complete the rest of the playground,” the business administrator said.
He noted that unlike the previous manufacturer, KOMPAN offered a lifetime warranty on the set and can be repaired if needed decades down the road. KOMPAN manufactures and installs their own equipment.
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