Rendering of proposed new playground equipment and shade sails planned for Fifth Street Park in Lansdale. (Image courtesy of Lansdale Parks and Recreation Department)
New equipment, shade sails are on to-do list
A major makeover for a borough playground could start within weeks.
Lansdale officials gave an update this month on pending renovations to the town’s Fifth Street park and playground, and work that could start soon.
“We will be making a recommendation to award a contract to the lowest responsible bidder at the June 18 meeting,” said parks and recreation director Courtney Fox.
Last summer borough council approved two grant applications that could help fund upgrades at Fifth Street playground and park, located along the borough’s main freight rail line just south of the intersection of Fifth and Towamencin Avenue. After receiving both grants, for $292,000 from the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and $200,000 from Montgomery County Community Development Block Grant, staff and the borough’s consultants drew up and bid out plans this past winter for new playground equipment, safety surfacing, an ADA-accessible parking area, a resurfaced basketball court, new fencing, and shaded seats.
During the town’s parks and recreation committee meeting on June 4, Fox gave an update: borough staff held a meeting with interested contractors earlier that day, those contractors were required to submit bids on the project by June 11, and a bid could be awarded on June 18 for the site work involved with the project, while purchase of the playground equipment itself will likely be done via the state’s COSTARS joint bidding program.
“We would probably start in July or August,” she said.
Playground equipment can be seen at Lansdale’s Fifth Street Park in Feb. 2023.Council President Mary Fuller asked if staff had made any progress in talks with SEPTA and/or the local freight railroad that operates the tracks adjacent to the park, and Fox said current plans are to replace the fence between the rail tracks and playground as part of the project, and staff have had preliminary talks with the railroad about the related site work. Those talks could lead to more clarity on “the weird shape” where the borough park property ends and the railroad right-of-way begins, Fox said, and could lead to a formal maintenance agreement between the railroad and the borough spelling out what areas are whose responsibility, she said.
Councilman BJ Breish asked if the parks department had held talks with any nearby organizations such as the North Penn Mosque about ways they could support or contribute to the playground project, and Fox said early talks along those lines have begun, and will likely continue once the cost specifics are known. As for parking at the site, current plans call for two accessible parking spaces and one non-accessible space in the lot that is slated for paving, and talks will continue with the railroad on whether additional parking spaces could be created or identified, she said.
Rail ties and debris sits in an empty lot next to Lansdale’s Fifth Street Park in Feb. 2023.Another grant-funded parks project is also moving ahead: Fox told the committee that a county ‘Montco 2040’ grant has been awarded for paving trails in the department’s York Avenue, Susquehanna, Memorial, and Wissahickon Parks, and council could vote on June 18 to advertise for bids for that work. Total estimated costs for that project are roughly $293,000, of which $250,000 would be covered by the grant, and work could start by September or October depending on weather.
“I’m super excited about this project. I think it’s well-needed: upgrades are needed as-is, but it’s also going to incorporate ADA considerations, which in some cases are lacking or nonexistent,” said Breish.
“It’s going to make the parks far more accessible to our community, which I think is fantastic. Great job on the grant, it’s awesome,” he said.
Rendering of proposed new playground equipment, seating and shade sails planned for Fifth Street Park in Lansdale. (Image courtesy of Lansdale Parks and Recreation Department)Committee chairwoman Rachael Bollens said she saw the need for those accessibility upgrades firsthand during the town’s Memorial Day celebration on May 26.
“I saw people struggling in Memorial Park with their wheelchairs, they were lifting the wheels up, and I wanted to go say ‘We’re working on this,'” she said. “We’re really excited to make this safe and accessible for everyone.”
Elsewhere around town, the borough’s pools opened on Memorial Day weekend with no major issues or problems aside from one weather-related closure, Fox said, and over 2,200 residents have signed up for memberships so far this year. Staff are planning several special events at the pools this summer, including night swims and a new birthday party package, and will advertise specifics on the social media pages for the pools as details are finalized.
Other ongoing parks projects include three test meadow plantings at Willow Street Park, where staff and the town’s environmental advisory commission have experimented with different plantings meant to reduce weeds and maintenance costs there. Staff are also looking into a resident concern raised in the area of the Fourth Street park and pool where painted crosswalk lines on the roadway have faded, and whether those lines can be repainted or more signage added to increase pedestrian safety there.
Lansdale’s borough council next meets at 7 p.m. on June 18 and July 2 and the parks and recreation committee next meets at 7:30 p.m. on Aug. 6, all at borough hall, 1 Vine Street. For more on the borough visit www.Lansdale.org and for more on the parks and recreation department, follow “Lansdale Parks & Recreation” on Facebook.
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