A carousel spinning around. Image via Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0
The city of Salem received a $770,000 grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. With the money, they will remodel the RiverFront Park for the first time in 26 years, starting in 2026.
“Rob Romanek, parks planning manager for the city, said the upgrades to Salem’s most popular park will benefit locals and visitors alike,” Joe Siess, Salem Reporter said.
Making A Safer Park
Remodeling the park and replacing the old equipment is a must because of the popularity of the park. By remodeling the Park it will make it much safer than it is right now as well as more inclusive to others.
“If we did not have this opportunity it would be a maintenance nightmare for us and unfortunately at some point, we would have to close it. We are hoping to avoid all that and we are thinking positive,” Romanek said in an interview with Salem Reporter.
Possible New Features
According to Salem Reporter, some proposed ideas for new features on the playground include an inground merry-go-round that will be accessible for everyone, a wheelchair-accessible route at the top of the play structure, a turf hillside intended for rolling, as well as an eagle nest that will be a quiet area, shaded trees and an expanded picnic area that will be located next to the playground. Another thing they will be remodeling is rerouting the path next to the play structure. As of right now, the path cuts through the playground which could be a risk.
With the remodel, the equipment will follow a theme of the Willamette River as well as local wildfire. This will feature a beaver-like dam that will be a climbing area and an eagle nest representing the eagle nest at Minto-Brown Park.
