By Elizabeth Wulfhorst
FAIR HAVEN – The children of Fair Haven have a new playground. And in addition to the four slides, two age-appropriate climbing options and various sensory play items, it boasts a shade structure large enough to keep kids from roasting in the mid-day sun.
According to Fair Haven council members Meghan Chrisner-Keefe and Betsy Koch, and the director of parks and recreation, DJ Breckenridge, the old playground equipment was in urgent need of replacement.
“We had a slide that was in disrepair that had to be taken down and there was a piece of plywood up where the slide had been,” said Chrisner-Keefe, council liaison to the parks and recreation committee. “We realized it was critical to have a playground structure here that was usable for the kids.”
The playground is at the Community Center on Fisk Street in the borough, behind the police station and adjacent to tennis courts, basketball and pickleball courts and baseball and softball fields.
In addition to the broken and boarded up slide, the main piece of equipment was also damaged, but the playground was so old the manufacturer no longer sold the parts needed to fix it, explained Fair Haven Mayor Joshua Halpern.
Koch, lead liaison to the committee, credited committee member Tina Iglesias-Stanley with spearheading the new playground operation and said she most likely was not at the ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, April 26 because she just had a baby.
“She’s done a huge amount of research,” Koch said of Iglesias-Stanley. “She presented several options and then the recreation committee chose an option pretty much everybody agreed upon.”
She said they particularly liked this version because it is rated for ages 3 to 12. “We all liked this option because it appealed to a variety of age levels,” Koch said, with items for younger children on one side, older kids on the other. “This seemed to appeal to a broad base of children,” she said, with a diverse amount of play options and the important shade.
“In the coming days you’re going to see, as the baseball field and the softball field and the tennis courts fill up, the younger siblings tend to make their way over to the playground and the past few months they haven’t had the opportunity to do this,” Halpern said.
Funding for the new structures came from the town. “We went to the council and asked for the money and they found a way to subsidize it and provide the funds,” Koch said. “Everybody on the council agreed to” the necessity of the playground.
“Recreation and our youth are a lynchpin in our community and we felt it was really important to ensure they have playground equipment,” she said. While they didn’t have “a lot of money to spend,” said Koch, they tried to get as much as they could with the funds they had.
“The Fair Haven Recreation Committee worked with the governing body to make this new play structure a reality,” said Breckenridge.
At the event this week, Halpern cut the ribbon before children of all ages christened the new items with shrieks of joy and lots of climbing, running and sliding.
“I think what you’re looking at right here is the first step coming out of COVID,” said Halpern. “It’s the first piece of equipment that we’ve put in in some time.” But he noted that it certainly won’t be the last.
“We want to improve the town any way that we possibly can,” said Halpern. “We’re looking to invest in equipment for our youth, give them opportunities to be recreationally active,” adding there are many other projects being developed and implemented around the borough, not just for young people. According to Breckenridge, though, “Children are the true heartbeat of our Fair Haven. This new playground structure will offer a fun and safe outlet for kids to play for years to come. I could not be more excited for our community.”
Photos and additional reporting by Patrick Olivero.
The article originally appeared in the April 28 – May 4, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times.
