County's priciest playground coming to Beachwood
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
A Cleveland suburb is poised to construct a playground that's more than triple the cost of the most expensive playground in Cuyahoga County.
Driving the news: Beachwood City Council voted 4-3 Monday night to approve the $3.8 million project, which will be built next to the Family Aquatic Center on Fairmount Boulevard.
- The playground will include state-of-the art features, including rubber and turf surfaces, a pavilion, a sand area, zip lines, music and art elements, and ADA accessibility.
By the numbers: After a $700,000 grant from Cuyahoga County, the cost to Beachwood taxpayers will be $3.1 million.
What they're saying: "Prices for everything have increased substantially," Mayor Justin Berns said in defending the controversial expense.
- "If you go to the grocery store, the prices are higher than they were pre-COVID. The same thing has happened for playground equipment."
The other side: Beachwood City Councilman Mike Burkons over the weekend released a video alerting residents to the extraordinary price tag relative to other playgrounds in the area. He proposed scrapping the plan and starting over with a reduced budget.
- "If we only spent $1.5 million," he said, "we'd still be spending half a million dollars more than the most expensive playground in the county's history."
- The $980,000 playground Burkons alluded to was built specifically to accommodate children with special needs. It opened at Westlake's Clague Park last year.
Of note: The Lindsey Family Play Place at Edgewater Park, which is considered a destination playground and includes almost all the amenities the new Beachwood playground will have, cost just $500,000.
The latest: Burkons voted no on Monday and told Axios after the meeting that he resented the insinuation by his colleagues that he wanted a "second-rate" playground for Beachwood residents.
What's next: Demolition of the existing playground on the site is scheduled to begin this fall, with construction and installation scheduled for spring and a planned opening for summer 2024.