With the help of Crestwood’s elected officials and several lucky Long Elementary School students, the two new playgrounds at Crestwood Park officially opened with a ribbon cutting on May 6.
The Crestwood Park playground revamp was made possible by the April 2024 passing of Proposition A, a $33 million ballot measure funding several parks and recreation projects throughout the city.
“On behalf of the city of Crestwood, it’s my pleasure to dedicate this new playground as part of our Proposition A. It’s our first deliverable for Prop A,” Crestwood Mayor Scott Shipley said at the ceremony. “The Parks Department did an awesome job of getting the community involved.”
To ensure the new playgrounds would be usable and enjoyable for all, Crestwood held multiple open house events and opened an online survey for the community to participate in. After multiple months of narrowing down the options, the top three renderings were taken to Long Elementary School in August for students to voice their opinions on the redesign. Long was specifically chosen as students frequently use Crestwood Park, which borders the school.
Before students voted on the playground options at the beginning of the school year, Crestwood Director of Parks and Recreation Eilien Ramirez, Recreation Manager Phil Lanio and Shipley explained the playground renovation and the importance and civic responsibility of voting. After they voted, each student received an “I Voted” sticker.
“I voted (for this playground) because this one was the coolest because it had the obstacle course, the slides and the zip line,” Ellie, a fifth grader at Long Elementary, said. “I thought it was really cool that the mayor got to come to our school and help us vote.”
Ellie’s favorite part of the new area is the obstacle course, while Cash, a fourth grader at Long Elementary, favors the spinner.
“(My favorite part) is probably the space on the bridge, because last time it was just all on the ground, so you pretty much had no space to run,” Noah, a third grader at Long Elementary, said.
Like Ellie, Noah and Cash also voted for the playground that was picked, making the fun morning even more meaningful.
After the ribbon cutting, the five students chosen to represent Long Elementary at the ceremony – along with Crestwood Ward 4 Alderwoman Megan Gadallah’s three children, Maya and Mila, who both attend Long Elementary, and Malec, who is in Pre-K – were given the opportunity to enjoy the new space and play.
