It’s official! The new downtown Beaufort playground at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park is now open for kids…well, and their parents too.
A ribbon-cutting was held on Friday to unveil the Beaufort-themed park, which includes a climbing structure styled like a shrimp boat with rope nets for climbing; an Arsenal-styled structure that connects to a 5-foot green mound; a spinner, and slides and swings.
“We’re thrilled with the design of our playground,” said Linda Roper, director of Downtown Operations & Community Services.
“We think parents and kids will love it.”
Great Southern Recreation installed the playground at a cost of $274,654; it was funded by a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant and City resources. The new playground features safety surfaces, including artificial turf on the mound, rubber mats, and engineered wood mulch made for playgrounds.
The former Beaufort waterfront playground was installed in 2006, when Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park was renovated. “Playground equipment, like everything else, has a shelf life,” said Roper. “This equipment needs to be repaired more often, and parts are getting harder to find.”
In January, the City of Beaufort gathered input about the type of playground equipment residents would like to see at the downtown waterfront park. More than 400 people responded. “Swings, slides, the ability to climb, and spinners were requested most frequently. Parents also wanted to make sure the equipment was inclusionary for children with disabilities,” Roper said. “We made sure our new playground has all those features.”
The city delivered.
