Huse Playground Enhancement Project
Huse Playground Enhancement Project
Status: Phase 1 complete; Phase 2 Planning / Fundraising
Project Scope: The Huse School Playground a.k.a. the “Chicken Playground",” nestled between the Huse School Apartments, The City of Bath Recreation Department building, Kimball Field and St. Mary’s Catholic Church, was built when the original Huse School building was converted into apartments. It is one of the only publicly accessible playgrounds in the City of Bath, meaning that it is not associated with a school and is open to the public dawn to dusk, year round.
Due to the playground’s location, there is a lack of natural shade and the playground becomes very hot during the day, especially during the summer months. Currently, the engineered wood fiber (EWF) surfacing, also known as “wood chips,” is in need of replenishing to meet playground fall safety standards.
Bath at Play’s Huse Playground Enhancement Project aims to correct some of these situations that limit play within the current playground. Planned enhancements will occur over three phases as funding becomes available and include:
Phase 1: Trees - Completed: 11/03/2023
8 mature trees were transplanted by Jack Hernandez, City of Bath arborist. Jack sourced the trees from the Bath City Forestry Committee Tree Nursery and planted them along the Southern and Eastern perimeter (between playground and parking lot) to provide immediate shade.
The trees planted are: 5 Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus), 2 red maple (Acer rubrum), and one little-leaf linden (Tilia cordata). (See photos)
We would like to thank Kennebec Equipment Rental in Woolwich for donating use of a tree spade rental to make this phase of the project a reality!
Phase 2: Surfacing & Accessibility Enhancement
Resurfacing the entire playground using ADA-compliant rubber matting from Grassmats USA & US Playground Surfacing after replenishing the fenced in play area with new engineered wood fiber. This solution retains fall safety standards while improving accessibility and significantly reducing maintenance requirements.
Cost: Materials: $33,000; Install: $21,000.
Addition of an adaptive swing seat to the existing swings. This improvement provides a inclusive swing option to the existing play equipment on site.
Estimated Cost: $1,700
Stretch Goal - Phase 3: Shade Structure
Building a sail-style shade structure that covers portions of the existing play equipment with focus on the South facing slides. The sails would be removed for the winter months.
Costs including installation range from $53,000 to $80,000+ depending on final design and shade coverage. Other shade structure options may be investigated as this project progresses.
Total Estimated Project Cost: $87,000 - $137,000
Bath at Play intends for this project to be community-funded through business and / or private donations. Applicable grants will be applied for following project approval by the City of Bath. We do not expect to ask for municipal funds to complete this project.
Where We Are and Next Steps:
Bath at Play has been in contact with many vendors to get best quotes for the shade structure as well as numerous departments within the City of Bath to ensure efficacy of the planned improvements. On May 17, 2023, the Bath City Council unanimously voted in favor of Bath at Play’s request to fund-raise for the above improvements. At that time, this became a community-funded City of Bath project!
On June 7, 2023, we met with the City of Bath Forestry Department and Bath Recreation to finalize the details of Phases 1 & 2 of the project. We are actively working on implementing these details and seeking funding for these phases.
We completed Phase 1 on Friday, November 3, 2023 with the transplanting of 8 trees to the site.
How Can You Help?
We are currently seeking donations and support for this project. If you are interested in supporting this project, please visit our donate page for donation options or visit our PayPal fundraising campaign page below. Thank you for your support!
Our Thanks!
Bath at Play would not have been able to bring this project to where it is without all that have helped or donated time, money, or supplies for these enhancements. Thank you so much for helping us make this community stronger through dynamic and inclusive play!
Project Sponsors