Officials with the City of East Ridge announced that their dedication ceremony and grand opening celebration for the upgraded Pioneer Frontier Playground has been set for Saturday, April 2. Ceremonies will begin at 10 a.m. at the playground at 1509 Tombras Ave. in East Ridge.
The initial Pioneer Frontier Playground was built in 1994 by members of the East Ridge Community. Over time, the original wooden structures began to need repaired or replaced, especially after serving the community for nearly 28 years. The playground also needed to be accessible to children with special needs and compliant with federal laws.
The city was able to acquire a $500,000 Local Parks and Recreation Fund grant.
Soon afterwards the city approved a matching amount, enabling them to provide the community a new state-of-the-art playground and splash pad built by PlayCore, a Chattanooga based company specializing in recreational environments.
Construction of the new playground began in 2019 and faced numerous setbacks from delays in approved paperwork from the state, the onset of the Covid pandemic, material shortages and adverse weather conditions. Continued work efforts prevailed and the new playground is now ready for use with the Splash Pad scheduled to be completed in time for warmer weather.
“We are very excited to provide a new beautiful state-of-the-art playground that is ADA compliant and inclusive of all children,” said Brian Williams, mayor of East Ridge. “We understand the love and connection from our community regarding our previous playground. It was heavily utilized and became very tired, then unsafe. We saved the children’s handprints and incorporated them into the fencing in the front of the playground.”
Members of the community are invited to attend the grand opening celebration and check out all the new playground equipment. Attendees will also see the handprints which were inscribed on planks from the original playground that have been incorporated into the new design.
For additional information, contact East Ridge City Hall at 423-867-7711.