Wilmington's newest playground opened Thursday at Cool Spring park with fanfare from dozens of students from nearby William Lewis Elementary.
Kids were greeted with brand new equipment and a low-impact play surface.
Wilmington Parks and Recreation Director Ian Smith said this park is important for young people during the pandemic.
“There’s a lot of social things that they missed. And so this gives us an opportunity to have a brand new park where everyone wants to come to. And it gives our children an opportunity to learn to be social. Some of them did not get that chance. They’ve been gone for two years.”
Smith said the park was built for adults, too, with multiple pieces of built-in workout equipment.
“If you don’t know how to do these workouts you can scan the board and it gives you a full demonstration on what you need to do.”
The project was spearheaded by the neighborhood coalition West Side Grows Together with the City of Wilmington.
The park, which used to flood during heavy rains, now features an updated water abatement system thanks to nearly $1 million raised for the project.
