LARGO \u2014 The city will spend $1.9 million to replace the aging playground at Largo Central Park, one of the region’s most heavily used play areas, after the City Commission unanimously approved three bid agreements April 7.<\/p>\n
The 15-year-old playground at 101 Central Park Drive draws hundreds of thousands of children a year and has reached the end of its life cycle, officials said. The overhaul will add a section for infants and toddlers, a section designed for children on the autism spectrum and a “ninja warrior”-style calisthenics course for adults \u2014 the first of its kind in the area, according to the city.<\/p>\n
“The Largo Central Park playground is without a doubt the single most highly used playground in the city and one of the most highly used in the region,” Parks Supervisor Taylor Kahns told commissioners at the meeting, which was held at the Largo Public Library because of a sewage leak at City Hall.<\/p>\n
The park welcomes more than 1 million visitors annually, Kahns said, and staffers have “put a lot of elbow grease into keeping it going” while pushing for a replacement.<\/p>\n
“We’ve been talking about this replacement for five years,” he said. “And we’re chomping at the bit to get going.”<\/p>\n
The project breaks down into three contracts: $1.3 million for new playground equipment, $374,000 for the adult calisthenics circuit and $372,000 for artificial turf under both areas. Kahns said the investment will help the city “retain the regional destination feel” of Largo Central Park while “also providing a play area for all ages.”<\/p>\n
The toddler section, designed for children 6 to 23 months, will feature small play structures and a half-swing set and will be fenced off in line with playground safety guidelines, Kahns said.<\/p>\n
The ninja course will sit near the teen section, away from the younger children. The rest of the park’s layout will not change. Research found no comparable section for that age group anywhere in the area, he added.<\/p>\n
“As far as we’re aware, there isn’t anything like this within 100 miles,” Kahns said.<\/p>\n
Mayor Woody Brown said he initially had reservations about where the ninja course would go but was relieved to learn it would be set apart from younger children.<\/p>\n
“But I’m excited about all of it,” he said.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Michael Smith asked whether any of the old equipment could be salvaged for other city parks. Kahns said staff had “identified a few pieces to save and relocate” to facilities such as Southwest Rec. He said construction could begin late this summer.<\/p>\n
Resident Craig Murtha, who often addresses the commission on city issues, spoke in favor of the project during public comment.<\/p>\n
“I’m very excited about this ninja course,” said Murtha, 63. “I definitely will be using it.”<\/p>\n
He said the playground’s unique features will help keep Largo a desirable place to live, work and play.<\/p>\n
“I’ve complained a lot about things that don’t,” he said. “But today I’d like to say that I think this is something that will make us a city of choice.”<\/p>\n
The commission approved each of the three bid requests 7-0.<\/p>\n
Library signs lease with new cafe<\/p>\n
Commissioners also voted 7-0 to lease the library’s 1,000-square-foot cafe space to Nature’s Table Cafe, filling a vacancy left when R.G.’s Bookmark Cafe closed at the end of last year.<\/p>\n
Nature’s Table is a fast-casual chain that started in Orlando in 1977 and now has 65 locations in nine states, Downtown Administrator Charles Stanton said. The menu includes smoothies, wraps, sandwiches and salads.<\/p>\n
The lease runs five years with two additional five-year options at $750 a month, Stanton said. The owners plan to renovate the space “to enhance the dining experience while preserving the character and quality of the library environment,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I know the library’s patrons and staff are looking forward to this,” Smith said. “I think it’s a great concept, and it will fit right in with our library.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LARGO \u2014 The city will spend $1.9 million to replace the aging playground at Largo Central Park, one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240692,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[4085,46274,106480,106479,596,33423,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-240691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-largo","tag-largo-central-park","tag-largo-parks-and-recreation","tag-ninja-warrior-course","tag-pinellas-county","tag-playground","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}