By GARRET JAROS/Lincoln Chronicle
WALDPORT – It is open!
After shimmering for months like an unreachable mirage, the playground in Louis Southworth Park opened Thursday to droves of pint-sized purveyors of fun – who given the opportunity broke free from parents and grandparents to run from the packed parking lot to the promised land.
“It’s fun,” said 5-year-old Kassidy Morris, whose smile eclipsed her words. “I’m going to come again tomorrow when it’s summer.”
Her dad Clifford Morris, who grew up in Waldport, gave her a quick reminder that it was summer before continuing to push her on the swing.
“This place is amazing,” Morris said. “I had nothing like this growing up at all. It was just like metal slides and some swings. The cone that spins around is amazing. The kids are up and down all over it. And the washing station at the bathrooms – that’s nice.”
Morris brought all four of his children, who range in age from a month “and two days” to nine, to enjoy the playground’s opening day and what for many in the community will be the crown jewel of Southworth Park. Located just blocks from U.S. Highway 101 at Northeast Alsea Highway and Crestline Drive, the park is expected to draw not only locals but also passing tourists.
“We live like not even a quarter of a mile away so we will be here a lot this summer,” Morris said. “It’s going to be amazing, give the kids something to do, run some energy out. And this (surface) is so soft. My oldest daughter is accident prone, she literally fell down twice and skinned up both knees yesterday, so that is going to help out a lot.”
Morris also appreciates the different sized equipment that offers plenty for kids of all ages. When the baby grows into a toddler, he said, “she’ll be able to run around herself. She won’t feel left out because all her siblings are just running up on the big slides. She’ll be able to have fun herself.”
It was a sentiment repeated by other parents, several of which stopped to visit with city hall office manager Robin Morris who passed the day serving as a playground concierge of sorts.
Morris did her level best to impart the usual parental playground advice – “When you fall off let go” she called to a boy happily hanging on to the merry-go-round as his body dragged around its perimeter. “Remember to watch out for the little guys” she called to a mixed-sized herd jostling their way in a race to the slides.
It was difficult to tell whether her words made an impact or just added to the breeze coming off Alsea Bay.
“I have seen so many kids come in today,” Robin Morris said. “And I’ve seen kids crying when they have to leave. They don’t want to go. They’ve been so excited. They love the tower (spinning cone). There’s been kids at the top of that thing and they just love it.
“Kids have been shooting out of the slides like crazy – the curly slides,” she added. They’re loving it. A lot of happy little faces. And the parents walking around just in awe. And they can see their kids from multiple angles. They can be in the middle and see them wherever they’re at.”
Molly Presley of Waldport, who brought her two kids to the playground, said it was wonderful and big and bright.
“My kids are really excited,” Presley said. “This reminds me of a park where we used to live in Pennsylvania. One of the things that I liked about it is it’s open enough and things are big enough and far apart enough that parents can even go on with their kids when their kids are young and need some guidance. It seems very safe and I like that.”
More to come at park
The overall park is still a work in progress Robin Morris explained to Norma Estes of Waldport, who came with her daughter and granddaughter.
While there are several picnic tables as well as portable toilets with a handwashing station on hand, there are still overhanging shelters, a brick-and-mortar bathroom, pickle ball and basketball courts and a track for radio-controlled cars and bicycles that need to be built. Paving to the playground is also on the city’s to-do list. Once that happens, parking with designated handicap spaces will be much closer.
From here on out, construction will come in stages to allow the city to find grants that will pay for it, Morris said, as opposed to using taxes, which is something some community members oppose.
The 14,000-square foot playground was paid for by a grant from Oregon State Parks and then erected in a week last fall by a cadre of volunteers. The delay in opening was due to warmer weather required for laying its soft surface.
“This is great for a starter,” Estes said “It’s so nice that they’ve done something in Waldport. We’re very excited about that.”
“You don’t have to drive to Newport to do it anymore,” Morris said.
“Exactly,” Estes said. “Which we couldn’t do that often, but this was like 10 minutes. We were very excited about this and just praying that they’d finish it soon. And they did have some hiccups but it is so nice to hear that they are doing things for the community. It’s great. We love it.”
Her 6-year-old granddaughter, Rayna Fredenburg, called the playground “really exciting” and said she was partial to the “rollie sidewise that you roll down,” which makes a sound that despite her effort defies spelling.
Her mother, Tamara Fredenburg of Waldport, said she likes the variety.
“They’ve got the littler stuff for the little kids and then big stuff so families that have a wide age range can come and everyone has something to play on and enjoy,” Fredenburg said. “A lot of playgrounds you go on are either geared toward really little kids or much older kids. You don’t have a lot like this that has everything. It is very exciting for the community.”
- Garret Jaros covers the communities of Yachats, Waldport, south Lincoln County and natural resources issues for the Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at GJaros@YachatsNews.com
I think it’s fabulous!! I am excited to see the pickleball court and wish they would have an inside and an outside one. I hope everything is thoroughly enjoyed.