Benny Russell Park, located at 5417 West Spencer Field Road, reopens on Friday, March 15 in time for spring break activities. The popular family park was closed for renovations on March 4. The renovation project improves safety, increases the life of the structure, encourages creative play, and helps reduce overall future maintenance.
Improvements include:
· New main entrance with better visibility of the parking lot
· New entrance to the toddler area to help facilitate age separation
· A concrete pad from the parking lot to the entrance ramp was added to increase accessibility
· The Blue Angels structure was rebuilt and opened up to allow better visibility
· Panels on the tallest tower were changed from solid panels to wire mesh panels to allow for greater
visibility
· Several structures, including the ship were opened up for better visibility
· Climbing chains and walking chains were replaced with rope coated cable
· New hand rails throughout
· New paint throughout
The extremely popular, community-built playground opened in 2001 and was named after Benny Russell, Santa Rosa School Superintendent from 1980-1999. The Santa Rosa County Board of Commissioners approved a contract with Leathers and Associates for design, oversight and inspections services with public works crews completing the labor, at the Feb. 14 meeting. Renovation costs are estimated at $110,500.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Benny Russell Park Reopens with Improvements