San Marcos to replace oldest standing playground after 25 years

Children’s Park, the oldest park in San Marcos, is getting a makeover due to safety concerns over the old playground. The new playground will be designed entirely out of recycled plastic made to look like wood. Photo: Elizabeth Parrish

San Marcos is replacing the Children’s Park playground due to safety concerns from splintering wood and the expensive maintenance cost.

“I’m kind of sad but I’m kind of excited for the new one,” said Matthew Pasemann. The 13-yearold plays at the park every week.

Children aren’t the only one sad to see the old park go. Many community members were involved in creating the first park or spent their childhood playing on it.

“It’s the end of an era,” said Cate Boyd, who now brings her two young children to the same playground she grew up playing on. “Not just this park but all parks like that. Nothing is going to be built like that. We just build things differently now.”

Mark Leathers, who designed the old park, is in charge of designs for the new park and said he plans to use recycled plastic made to look like wood and rubber flooring. Using these new materials instead of wood and mulch is supposed to be safer for children.

Mark Leathers and two former construction foremen look over designs for the new playground. All three men were involved in the construction and design of the original playground, though only Leathers will be involved in building the new one. Photo: Elizabeth Parrish

“I won’t miss the splinters,” Boyd said. “My son had a traumatic mulch injury. He was digging in it with his hands and he got a splinter jammed all the way up to his nail.”

The Parks and Recreation department held a special meeting Nov. 1 to hear community input on a design for the new park. The new park will be more accessible to children with disabilities.

“I was kind of skeptical at the very first meeting I went to because I wasn’t sure what to expect,” said Sarah Pasemann, a San Marcos resident since 2007 and mother of Matthew Pasemann. “But I think it’s gonna be good. They’ve really taken into account the needs of the community from littles to mid-range ages.”

Pasemann added that she hopes the park will also be inclusive of San Marcos’ teenagers.

“Sometimes that kind of gets lost because in San Marcos there’s not a whole lot of good gathering spots for teens,” said Pasemann.

At the meeting, Leathers said he’s looking at several ways to get the community involved, either by engraving residents’ names on the plastic fencing or by allowing local artists to contribute to the design. Parks and recreation board members also said they would be adding more trash and recycling cans as part of an on-going effort to combat littering in the park.

The city estimates the cost of the new park to be around $1 million, just under their budget of $1.4 million, according to Bert Stratemann, operations manager of the parks and recreation department.

Construction is scheduled to start in February. Stratemann said the city hopes to have the new park finished by the end of May.