A new, modern playground area at Burnham Smith Park, corner of Dairy and Patterson Avenues, is the result of teamwork. According to City of Corcoran Public Works Director Joe Faulkner the new equipment is being mostly funded with monies from Measure A, a generous donation from The Corcoran Community Foundation and a housing related parks grant as well as impact fees.
The new playground equipment puts Corcoran on the map. The equipment is a creation from the Miracle Playsystems Company who says that the park will house playground equipment that is the first of it’s kind in the State of California.
“The old equipment was over 25 years old,” Faulker said. “It was out of compliance. It was so old that we couldn’t get replacement parts for it anymore.”
Faulkner who has been working on the project for over a year says it started when the City received the grant. They formed an Ad-Hoc Committee which consisted of Faulkner, City Councilmembers Pat Nolen and Jeanette Zamora-Bragg, Phil McBride, City Manager Dr. Kindon Meik and Sarah Howard. The committee designed the park and work began the end of December. City crews started the work of removing the old equipment. Beginning of January the J.G. Boswell Company sent a crew to work on the park and they removed the cement and hauled it away; and prepared the park for the playground equipment installer-CS Construction. CS began work last week and the project should take about five weeks to finish, added Faulkner. It should be completed by Feb. 11, he said.
The nearly $250,000 project is a complete overhaul of the park.
“We have gutted every piece of cement, removed equipment and benches and water fountains. We will put in new equipment, new cement, new water fountains and trash cans.”
The equipment, which is the first one in California is the X-gen Play Structure. It will have a gravity rail—which is a swing zipline, an Aquarius Climber, a DNA Climber and ADA accessible play equipment.
“The playground equipment; the structure is meant to get kids moving, exercising without knowing their exercising. They’re moving and playing,” Faulkner commented.
The new benches which will be installed were made in-house, Faulker said at the city–by city crews using recycled material. The Recreation Association of Corcoran (RAC) will take the lead when new irrigation is installed. The Corcoran High School Ag Mechanics program which offers a welding class will provide new signage, which was much needed. The park will also receive new landscaping and a new wrought iron fence.
At it’s completion, the project will provide local residents a beautiful, modern playground for hours of enjoyment.
“We really couldn’t have done it without The Corcoran Community Foundation,” Joe remarked. “Their generous donation relieved some of the burden for the city,” Faulkner noted.
The park was dedicated in honor of Burnham Smith who served as the Mayor of Corcoran from April 1962 through March 1978.
