Bladensburg’s newest playground was designed by the kids who will use it.
Over the summer, kids in a Prince George’s County Parks & Recreation summer camp helped determine the design of the playground, while those in the Xtreme Teens program helped design a mural.
Then, the county worked with the national nonprofit KABOOM! to repave the area and install the new equipment at the playground outside the Bladensburg Community Center at 4500 57th Ave.
“The close engagement with the Bladensburg community and the kids-designed element of it makes the playground unique,” Parks & Rec spokeswoman Angel Waldron told the Hyattsville Wire.
The previous playground was over 20 years old, with equipment aimed at two- to five-year-olds, while the new playground will have separate spaces for kids aged 2-5 and 5 to 12, a new multi-sport court and other enhancements.
The $300,000 project was built by the county in partnership with Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation. KABOOM!, which works to reduce unequal access to playgrounds, also supplied volunteers to help build the project. Included in the project is a new colorful sports-themed mural facing the new playground by artists Isak Shah and Darren Soto who also just completed the new Black Lives Matter mural in Hyattsville.
The play area will be ready to use and open to the public early next week once the cement dries. For now, it has construction fencing around it.
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