City of Lawton to begin playground upgrades

Teressa Looper is glad the City of Lawton has chosen the park near her house, Gray Warr, to be the recipient of upgrades.

She cites the tennis courts that need to be resurfaced, and don’t even have nets, to the small playground equipment as things that need attention.

A few weeks ago she called the city about a slide that had cracked so badly children were at risk of scrapes when they used it. The slide was removed, but was not replaced. She also cites lack of parking around the park and park users pulling onto the grass.

Gray Warr is the first of three parks that the city has identified to be upgraded.

“I’m excited about all the new projects getting under way,” said Parks and Recreation Director Larry Parks, adding the City of Lawton is getting ready to invest a great deal of money in city parks and lakes amenities, with park upgrades expected to begin in early April.

The parks work falls under a mandate the City Council issued in November, after formally deciding many city parks are long overdue for upgrades. While the work will range from new signs and benches to shade, the most noticeable improvement — at least for the youth that use the parks — will be new playground equipment. Parks calls it a facelift, placing new amenities to make parks new, exciting and safe for the youth who use them.

In addition to playground equipment and restrooms, the upgrades beginning this spring will include new trash receptacles and minor resurfacing on courts.

Parks said the city’s Parks and Recreation Department is working from a priority list set last fall. City staff is recommending the work begin with three: Gray Warr Park between Andrews and Taylor avenues; Panther Park on Northeast Pioneer Boulevard; and George N. Lee Park at Southwest 6th Street and Belmont Avenue. All three are well-used, city officials have said.

Prior analysis indicated those parks need new playground equipment, as well as minor resurfacing work on play courts. Parks said the playground project is a two-phase process: city parks crews will remove the old equipment just before the contractor installs the new equipment. He said the intent is for crews to closely coordinate their work so there isn’t a lag between the removal of old equipment and placement of the new. Parks said that is why the city is working with only a few parks at a time, to ensure youth aren’t left without playgrounds.

Mayor Stan Booker has said the $1.5 million parks upgrade is one of the city’s efforts to provide better and more recreational opportunities for Lawton families. It was a goal emphasized in the 2019 Capital Improvements Program, which allocated $20 million toward quality of life issues. The city’s parks staff also has been leading efforts to refine the list of city parks, culling those that are merely open space or not well used so resources can be focused on those that are heavily used.

Playgrounds are a special concern. City staff has identified 65 sets of playground equipment in city parks, most installed more than 20 years ago. Parks said that age has created a variety of issues: cracked plastic, rust and chipped paint from weathering; standing water caused by poor drainage; and damage from graffiti and vandalism. Some damaged equipment cannot be repaired because replacement parts no longer are available. Some playgrounds still have metal slides, which don’t meet today’s safety standards (and which provide an uncomfortable experience in summer, as any child can testify).

A majority of the cost in the $1.525 million parks improvements list is associated with work in nine specific parks, specified by consulting firm Play & Park Structures as new playground equipment, along with restrooms in Panther, Mattie Beal, Gray Warr and McMahon parks. There is $170,350 associated with new signs, benches, mulch and painting/resurfacing courts.