BOONE, Iowa—The Parks Department has improvements to Larrew Park, where aging playground equipment has been replaced with a colorful new play structure designed especially for toddlers and other young children. Located at 1129 Harrison Street, just north of the Boone & Scenic Valley Railroad Museum, Larrew Park is a small neighborhood park that offers families a convenient place for younger children to play.
The previous playground structure had reached the point at which replacement parts were no longer available. When a slide or another component became damaged, the Parks Department’s only option was to remove it. Boone Park Superintendent Mike Cornelis says that before it got to point where too much playground had to be taken away, it was a good time to replace it.
The new playground follows approximately the same configuration as the previous play area. Its features include slides, a small bridge and a child-sized climbing wall. Swings are located next to the main play structure. The approximately 32-by-72-foot playground area had to be covered with eight to nine inches of certified playground mulch. The mulch provides fall protection and is specially processed to meet playground safety requirements. The play structure had been installed, but the playground was temporarily closed while the City waited for conditions to dry sufficiently to place approximately 80 cubic yards of protective mulch.
The Parks Department worked through Sourcewell, a cooperative purchasing organization that completes a competitive procurement process for participating public entities. Boland Recreation supplied the Miracle playground equipment. Following delivery, installers completed most of the equipment installation in less than a day.
Larrew Park was established after a home on the property was destroyed by fire. The land was donated to the city in 1987, and the original playground was installed the following year. Now that the improvements are complete and the fence has been removed, the park will be open during the City’s regular park hours of 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Ribbon Cutting at Larrew Park, Friday, October 9th. Left to Right, 4th Ward Councilman Terry Moorman, Park Superintendent Mike Cornelis, cutting the ribbon Park Commission Chairman Kevin Pearson, Park Commissioner David Sherry, Boone Mayor Dave Casotti and Boone City Administrator Ondrea Elmquist.
Larrew Park’s new play structure
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