Public input sought on Fort Findlay rebuild

FINDLAY — Architect renderings of the $1.4 million rebuild of the Fort Findlay Playground were released by the city earlier this week to gather public feedback on the design. The playground, a childhood staple for many city residents, requires upgrades and maintenance that aren't sustainable, according to city officials. The new design shows a modern, open park space with playground equipment gated by fencing designed to give it the look of a wooden fort. The open space provides for increased sightlines for safety and accessibility for all, according to a release issued by the city on Wednesday. It was designed by Human Nature, Inc., a landscape architecture and environmental planning group based in Cincinnati. The company was contracted for the full project design at a cost of $142,600. A community input survey, asking residents to prioritize different park features, is now available on the city's website at www.findlayohio.gov and will be open until Aug. 23. The playground at Emory Adams Park, 1516 S. Blanchard St., opened to a packed house of children 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. Legislation asking Findlay City Council to appropriate about $600,000 to purchase new playground equipment for the playground was pulled from the agenda in July to allow for public feedback on the plan. In July, Service-Safety Director Rob Martin said officials had planned to work with the city's schoolchildren again to design the park, and that process was started, but wasn't followed through upon. Martin said the city would like to maintain the tradition of public input with the playground. He said the project didn't get the input "that it deserves." On Friday, city Engineer Jeremy Kalb said the city was able to get some feedback from grade-schoolers on the plans last year, which did help with the design phase. A total of $620,000 has been appropriated for the project by council: $550,000 from the city's American Rescue Plan Act dollars, and another $70,000 from the capital improvement fund. So far, the city has spent $103,552 on the project for the design and development work. "Changing the project design all depends on the feedback that we receive from the public," Kalb said. "We are hoping that everyone loves it as much as we do, but we will need to see what some of the concerns are." In a letter to council, dated July 9, Kalb said there is a five to seven-month lead time for delivery of the playground equipment. The goal is to start construction in the spring.