Manteca’s multiple year campaign to upgrade neighborhood park playgrounds is two steps closer to completion.
Work has been finished on new playground equipment at both Springtime and Sequoia parks. Springtime Estates is in the neighborhood by the same name northwest of Louise Avenue and Main Street. Sequoia Park is off Wawona Avenue between Sequoia School and Union Road.
The city last summer completed work on Baccilieri Park in the triangle bounded by Vine, Stockton, and Wetmore streets that included new playground equipment. They have also moved forward on replacing playground equipment that had been destroyed by an arsonist at Quail Ridge Park on Mission Ridge Drive just two blocks east of Union Road.
The Manteca Parks and Recreation Commission has previously recommended that 12 other parks get funded for new playground equipment. The recommended parks, although not in any particular order, are Union West, William Martin, Cotta, Walnut Place, Button Estates, Gonsalves Estates, Quail Ridge, Franciscan, Yosemite Village, St. Francis, and Crestwood.
The establishment of new safety standards in 2000 by the State of California and Consumer Product Safety Commission prompted the City of Manteca to evaluate all of the playgrounds.
Since July 2000, the city has renovated 10 playgrounds at a cost of $1.6 million. There are about a dozen parks left to go on the list that would cost an estimated $3.5 million. The approach since 2000 has been to go in and upgrade everything in a park — play equipment, accessible walks, drinking fountains, benches, lighting, playing surfaces, and paving at an average cost of $200,000 per park.
Staff has noted in the past they were receiving a growing number of complaints and concerns from citizens about the condition of playground equipment.
Non general fund money that has either been earmarked by the federal government for such purposes or fees collected from developers are paying for the projects.
It is estimated it will cost $15,200 a year per playground to battle graffiti and to keep the equipment maintained for the Springtime and Sequoia parks playground equipment.
