SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) \u2014 On Monday, the City of Scranton reopened Grace Street Park, also known as the \u201cPurple Park,\u201d following a $433,000 improvement project that replaced aging playground equipment and added new recreational features in the city\u2019s Plot section. Mayor Paige Cognetti led a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 400 Grace St. to mark the completion of the improvements.<\/p>\n
A 2022 Parks Needs Assessment found Grace Street Park was \u201cnearing the end of its lifespan,\u201d with many playground features deteriorating. The former beige and green equipment was replaced with purple, blue and yellow slides, climbing features and other play elements set on teal-and-black flecked soft rubber surfaces.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took my kids here before the renovations. It was OK, but it was really in need of a lift. We really needed to replace it, as it had been here for a few decades,\u201d said Cognetti. \u201cIt was really exciting to be able to get the funds together and bring to life a new park with different things for different ages. You can see already the park is a big hit in the neighborhood. So we\u2019re grateful to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The renovated park also includes a new asphalt loop for walkers, bicycles and scooters, along with swings, musical play features and benches. Cognetti said the bike and scooter course has multiple loops and a small traffic light meant to give children the feel of navigating city streets.<\/p>\n
Catherine Kelly, a special education teacher with the Mid Valley School District, attended the opening with her 1-year-old son, Seamus. She highlighted the park\u2019s soft play surface and range of features designed for children of different ages.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s so wonderful, not just as an educator but also as a mom, to see a new park opening and free resources available to students and children. I wanted to bring my son so he can see all the wonderful things that Scranton is doing for its residents,\u201d said Kelly.<\/p>\n
Since 2021, Scranton has spent nearly $26 million on parks, accessible play equipment and outdoor pools. Other 2026 projects included new amenities at Nay Aug Park, Capouse Avenue Park and Weston Field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) \u2014 On Monday, the City of Scranton reopened Grace Street Park, also known as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[178,180,179],"class_list":["post-286494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}