Major makeover considered for Seaford's Jay's Nest playground

SEAFORD — The Jay’s Nest playground, which has served the community’s kids since 2002, needs a makeover.

So, Tri-State Community Partners, a nonprofit portion of the development underway at the former Nylon Capital Shopping Center, is looking to team up with the city to make it happen.

“Originally constructed in 2002 as a communitywide playground, over the years, it has deteriorated some, even resulting in a shutdown last year ... for some potentially life-threatening safety hazards to be remediated,” said Seaford economic development director Trisha Newcomer at the Tuesday City Council meeting.

At the time of the closure, Ms. Newcomer and then-Mayor David Genshaw were asked by Tri-State to sit on an advisory committee, as the group wanted to “reinvest in our community.”

“We were talking through several projects, and this one really resonated with them, and they wanted to jump onboard,” she added.

Also presented at the council meeting were results of a survey facilitated from a site visit by Tri-State. The survey, also shared with the city’s Parks & Recreation Committee on July 10, revealed immediate and long-term recommendations, according to Brad Thornton, a landscape architect with Ground Reconsidered.

“We are essentially restoring a playground that was developed in 2002, and there has been a lot of innovation in the last 20 years,” he said.

The survey concluded that:

• Sand areas and slides are in good condition.
• Swings are considered at the end of their life span and need replacement. “We try to look for social swings — swings where more than one child can interact, or a parent can interact,” Mr. Thornton said.
• Some of the climbing nets have exposed nylon and need replacing.
• Some of the pressure-treated wood has reached its life expectancy.
• It is recommended to replace the boat and playhouse features.
• The Jay’s Nest sign should be relocated.

The structure basically has two areas — one for ages 2-5 and one for those 5-12.

However, “the 2-5-year-old area is kind of lacking in dynamic elements,” Mr. Thornton said, adding that there are recommendations to bring back the musical instruments, as the current ones no longer function, as well as to incorporate interactive elements to the fencing.

According to Will Horrocks, president of Tri-State Community Partners, the current mission is to assess the state of the playground “and see what we can do now (and) what we could potentially do later.”

“We’re close to knowing what we can do as soon as next year,” he continued. “But we do see this project as a multiyear project, where we continue to be connected to the community and working with the community to improve it. We hope the city or other stakeholders can potentially help us generate more funds to put towards the project, as well as our organization looking for grants.”

He added that safety is key.

“It was pretty clear that there is a lot (that) is not safe with the playground right now. So, it became our priority to make it safe,” Mr. Horrocks said.

And city leaders appear to be all for it, as council voted 5-0 to approve Councilman Alan Quillen’s motion that city staff continue to work with Tri-State to further develop a plan and funding for the initiative.

“As one of the original donors to the complex, it is awesome to see that it is going to be restored and even expanded,” Vice Mayor Dan Henderson said. “It has brought a lot of joy to my daughter. It is nice to see that it will be taken care of for generations to come.”

Councilwoman Stephanie Grassett agreed, saying, “My late husband and I were two of the parents out there building it. Now, I take my grandchildren out there.”