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New playground will be more accessible

North Clearwater's Sunshine Playground, a wooden castle, is no more, but its replacement at the Long Center will open soon.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published May 2, 2006

CLEARWATER - The old iconic playground was designed like a wooden fort and built by more than 3,500 volunteers. Called the Sunshine Playground, it became a community gathering spot in north Clearwater.

Now after 16 years, it's being replaced.

Crews recently tore down the castlelike slide and tire swings outside the Long Center on North Belcher Road. Coming soon will be a butterfly garden and a shaded sand pit 18 inches deep.

The new playground won't be a castle, but it will be "limitless," said Clearwater parks and recreation director Kevin Dunbar.

The playground will have more equipment accessible to children in wheelchairs than other playgrounds in the city. More than 70 percent of the activities will be wheelchair accessible. "The reality is that the wooden playground, as all facilities do, has fulfilled its useful life," Dunbar said Monday. "Maintenance costs were going to be pretty extensive, and we can replace it with something open to all of our residents."

THE NEW PLAYGROUND:

The Long Center Limitless Playground is scheduled to open in July. The swings and slides and other play features will be designed to accommodate disabled children.

The playground will be surrounded by a path, lit by acorn lamps, that passes the butterfly garden and shaded sandbox, ending at a restroom and concession building.

It will cost about $400,000, Dunbar said. Clearwater received $200,000 from the state and about $50,000 from Pinellas County for the project. The city will pay the balance.

THE HISTORY:

Built in five days in 1990 by community activists, the wooden playground has not avoided controversy.

In 2001, it was briefly closed after tests revealed high levels of arsenic in the treated lumber that made up the playground. The park reopened after further testing found the chemical posed no imminent threat.

And in 2004, a plane circling near the Clearwater Airpark hit another plane taking off and crashed into an oak tree about 20 feet from the crowded playground.

THE BIGGER PICTURE:

The new playground is part of larger improvements to the Long Center, which was built for $15-million in 1990, and since 2003 has been operated by the city.

On Monday, the city closed the center's Olympic-sized swimming pool for renovations. The $800,000 project should be completed in October. A 2,000-square-foot fitness room should be completed this month, along with an upgraded main lobby.

[Last modified May 2, 2006, 01:57:13]