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Chelsea Playground Needs $1.5M Revamp, Parents Say

By Maya Rajamani | December 14, 2015 8:38am
 A Friends of Hudson River Park capital campaign aims to raise $1.5 million to restore the playground at West 23rd Street and 11th Ave.
The Chelsea Waterside Play Area
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CHELSEA — The Chelsea Waterside Play Area has fallen into disrepair and will need $1.5 million worth of renovations, a group of parents says.

At a Community Board 4 committee meeting Thursday evening, members of the Friends of Hudson River Park Playground Committee promoted a capital campaign to raise money to replace the playground’s equipment and rubber surfacing, renovate the area’s water play features and fix drainage issues, along with addressing other safety concerns.

Composed of neighborhood parents, the Playground Committee was formed to raise funds and garner support for renovating the playground at West 23rd Street and 11th Avenue.  

“It’s starting to show its age,” said Greg Wasserman, a committee member and Chelsea resident who said he and his wife, Melissa, bring their two children to the playground on a near-daily basis.

Signe Nielsen, the principal at Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects who is involved in the project, cited “significant” safety concerns as the impetus behind the restoration project, including outdated equipment that could lead to “finger entrapment,” and equipment on the playground that is not currently functioning, including a merry-go-round swing structure that has been cordoned off by Hudson River Park barriers.

A single drain serves the entire playground, which has led to drainage issues, while parents have voiced concerns about a lack of shade and dead trees in the area, she said.  

City Councilman Corey Johnson has committed to providing half of the $1.5 million, and the group plans to fundraise throughout the winter and spring to raise the rest of the sum, Wasserman said.

But one Waterfront, Parks and Environment committee member voiced a concern about the necessity of overhauling the playground area.

“Part of me is wondering why there’s a desire to change the play equipment instead of just doing a touch up,” Brett Firfer said, adding that the shade at the site is “actually pretty good.”

Nielsen responded that safety standards for playgrounds are “constantly changing,” while Hudson River Park Trust president and CEO Madelyn Wils explained that some of the equipment “cannot be fixed.”

“Absolutely everything needs to be dug up,” Nielsen added.

Wasserman said the group is seeking input from parents, playground-goers and others invested in the space about features they would like to see as the project moves forward.

The Playground Committee has been passing out surveys at the site, and the group hopes construction will begin in the fall of 2016, he said.