ROCHELLE — Replacing and upgrading one of the town’s most prized playgrounds was on the minds of Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District leaders on Monday night.

After passing the 2018-19 budget, park commissioners heard a short report about plans for constructing a brand new KidsGround facility at Cooper Park on Rochelle’s west side this summer.

“We have several design options to consider and any of the firms who we have been talking with will be able to stay within our $400,000 budget,” stated park superintendent Don Elliott. “Any of these companies can give us what we want, so I think the important thing is to give the public a say in the building options and decide which one to go with.”

Elliott and park director Jackee Ohlinger are looking at starting demolition of the current KidsGround by spring of 2019 with construction starting in late May or early June.

After nearly three decades, the aging KidsGround facility has surpassed its expected lifespan and needs to be replaced. Elliott suggested the district consider another community build project with the replacement equipment as well.

“I’m sure a community build type of project would go over big with the public, and it would save us some funds by getting volunteers to do a lot of the labor,” he said.

Board member Mic Brooks agreed.

“KidsGround is a big deal to people and I think the public wants to take ownership of it,” he echoed.

In the early 1990s, the current KidsGround facility was built by community volunteers, who rallied around the project and came out in droves to provide labor and build the mostly wooden structure over the course of a few weeks.

“I absolutely agree that the public would favor a community build project,” said commissioner Dale Wells.

Elliott pointed out that the most expensive portion of the project will likely be the ground surface base, especially if the district chooses a rubberized base.

“A rubber surface would definitely be the priciest part of the project, but it would be high quality and good for 10 years before having to be replaced,” he added.

“One thing I’ve heard is that KidsGround is viewed as a top-notch playground and I don’t think it would be a good idea to scale it back to something that is more like one of the smaller neighborhood parks,” said board president Tim Hayden.

Ohlinger shared several board displays of playground designs on Monday night, but explained they were just examples of the type of layouts, styles and equipment that can used.

“Don’t get too tied to any of these, because they are just samples and not necessarily of what we might want to do,” she said. “We are having a capital committee meeting soon to discuss our options and eventually we want to get the public’s input.”

Budget approved

The board also unanimously approved the 2018-19 budget and appropriation on Monday night at total of $3,586,547 with total appropriations being capped at $3,945,201.