Spring rebuild planned for Fort Findlay Playground

The planned rebuild of the Fort Findlay Playground may get underway in the spring. Legislation appropriating nearly $600,000, all from the city's American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds, to purchase new equipment for the playground is expected to be introduced to Findlay City Council on Tuesday. Council will meet in regular session at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the Findlay Municipal Building, 318 Dorney Plaza. All council meetings are open to the public and are livestreamed on the city's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@findlayohio4234. Findlay received a total of $4.2 million in federal ARPA funds. In a letter to council, dated July 9, City Engineer Jeremy Kalb said there is a five to seven-month lead time for delivery of the equipment. Kalb said the equipment will be ordered as soon as council approves the appropriation to ensure delivery in early winter of this year in preparation for construction in the spring. The playground at Emory Adams Park, 1516 S. Blanchard St., opened in April 2001. The 20,000-square-foot playground cost about $200,000 to build 20 years ago and was considered state-of-the-art for municipal playgrounds. It was constructed over six days by more than 2,000 volunteers. The miniature fort was built based on the ideas of area schoolchildren. Architect Barry Segal, of Leathers and Associates, Ithaca, New York, and other volunteers, visited the schools to gather ideas for the park. Seagal had designed hundreds of playgrounds throughout the United States by that time.