SCRANTON — A renovation of the Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood replaced outdated equipment and made the small park safer and more inviting, officials said.
Mayor Paige Cognetti, city officials and some residents attended an event Monday highlighting the playground at 421 Grace St. that recently reopened after an overhaul.
The 0.35-acre site previously had old playground apparatus, a four strap-seat swing set with one swing missing, one picnic table and two park benches. Much of the surface of the property was bare asphalt.
The improvement project installed modern playground equipment, including an area for children under 5 and a larger playset for children from 6-12 years old, both with poured-in-place rubber surfaces, and a swingset near the rear of the dogleg-shaped park between Grace and Finn streets. A former asphalt section between the playground and the swingset was removed and converted into a lawn.
The playground’s former beige and green play equipment has been replaced with purple, blue, and yellow slides, climbing features and other inviting elements set on top of teal-and-black flecked soft rubber play surfaces, the city said in an announcement.
While the prior playground was functional, modernization was overdue, Cognetti said after a ribbon-cutting Monday. Playground design and equipment have advanced significantly from 25 and 30 years ago, in terms of safety and disabled-accessibility, she said.
“You need to update things for safety reasons, if nothing else,” Cognetti said. “Having a set for the younger and (a separate playset) the older kids is really important. If you can build out parks like we’re doing where you have both, it really helps with the safety element.”
The playground also has a kiddie road intertwined among the play equipment and extending out to the swingset area. This paved bicycle and scooter path that’s lined like a road is similar to one the city installed in a recent upgrade of Oakmont Park.
“We did this (kiddie road) at Oakmont and it’s a huge hit at Oakmont,” city Business Administrator Eileen Cipriani said.
The $433,000 Grace Street Playground project was funded with a $396,239 state Local Share Account grant awarded to the city in 2023 and remaining funds from the city’s Capital Reserve Fund.
In 2021, a 300-page Recreation Needs Assessment and Master Plan evaluated conditions of all of the city’s parks and recreation facilities, proposed improvements and raised prospects of fundamental changes to some of them.
This report said the Grace Street Playground “needs a total redesign to better function as a city park,” and now it has gotten that upgrade.
Since 2021, the Cognetti administration has invested nearly $26 million into parks, accessible play equipment and outdoor pools, according to the announcement. Earlier this year, the city opened a $1.18 million pickleball and basketball multicourt complex and a $4.6 million zero-entry pool at Nay Aug Park in the Hill Section, the $1.8 million Capouse Avenue Park that has a splash pad in Pine Brook and a $100,000 soccer mini-pitch at Weston Field.
Other improvements completed in recent years at parks throughout the city included: new playground equipment, rubber resurfacing, pickleball courts and other upgrades at Billy Barrett Park in Minooka; revamps of Oakmont Park near Lake Scranton, Robinson Park on East Mountain and the North Scranton Mini Park that features a fire department theme; a cricket pitch at Chic Feldman Field in Pine Brook; and a skate park at Weston Field. Water amenities have included the Novembrino Splash Pad in West Scranton and a new pool at Weston Field, while pool rehabilitation projects occurred at Connell Park in South Scranton and at Weston Park in Bull’s Head.
Next up in the park-upgrade pipeline include projects for a new playground at Connell Park and a redo of the dog park there, and improvements for Clover Field and Fellows Park, both in West Scranton, and Gerrity Park in North Scranton.
“It’s neat to be able to get creative and build out these parks,” Cognetti said.
The newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Teddi Leonard, 1, checks out a mini stop sign at the newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Teddi Leonard, 1, and her father, Jordan Leonard, at the newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Teddi Leonard, 1, tries out a kiddie slide, with the help of her father, Jordan Leonard, at the newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Teddi Leonard, 1, on a kiddie slide at the newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
A trail leading to a swingset at the newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
The newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
Old signs at the newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)
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The newly renovated Grace Street Playground in the Plot Section neighborhood on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD / STAFF PHOTO)