The City of Madison is replacing the playground equipment at Oak Parks Heights Park - work is currently underway

The City of Madison is replacing the playground equipment at Oak Parks Heights Park - work is currently underway
Source: https://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/projects/oak-park-heights-playground-improvements

Last Updated: 10/20/2023

Madison Parks is working on a Playground Improvements project at Oak Park Heights Park (aka Piper Park). The project's aim is to modernize and update aging equipment and to promote accessibility across our immense park playground system. After input from area residents during two public input meetings, Parks had planned to preserve the older metal jungle gym feature at the park. Due to internal miscommunication, the jungle gym, along with the other aging equipment, was removed on October 16, 2023. The equipment was deconstructed in a manner that makes re-installation infeasible.

Parks sincerely regrets this mistake and recognizes the negative impact this has on the neighborhood. Parks has been in contact with Alder Tishler and he has expressed his frustration with the situation. As part of the conversation with the Alder, it was determined that the next step for Parks will be to attend the Midvale Heights Community Association meeting  on Tuesday, October 24 at 7pm in the Sequoya Library. At that MHCA meeting, Parks staff will be prepared to share some thoughts on what could be done to mitigate the mistake, and most importantly, are open to hearing ideas from neighbors about what positive steps we can take together from here. Project updates, including photos, will be added to this site as work progresses.

All questions and comments regarding this project should be directed to Kate Kane, Landscape Architect at kkane@cityofmadison.com or (608) 261-9671.

BACKGROUND:
The City of Madison Parks Division held two meetings to discuss the playground improvements at Oak Park Heights Park.

The first public meeting was a playground workshop held with two other neighborhoods on November 10, 2022 online via Zoom. At this meeting City staff presented the Madison Parks playground input process, provided background on Madison’s playgrounds, and sought input from the neighborhood on individual park playgrounds.

The second public meeting was a neighborhood playground meeting held on January 19, 2023 also online via Zoom. At this meeting staff presented two playground designs from the manufacturer chosen during the breakout room session from the workshop and attendees selected their preferred design and color option, shown in the attachments below.

PUBLIC INPUT MEETING #2 - NEIGHBORHOOD PLAYGROUND MEETING

Thursday, January 19, 2023 at 6:00 pm - online via Zoom

• Playground Equipment Option 1 PDF 
• Playground Equipment Option 2 PDF  - attendees preferred option and colors*

*the 2-bay swing will be modified to include an accessible seat together with the belt seat and the frame will be dark green to match the handrails/climbing items as shown.  Attendees were interested in swapping the 2-seat rocker for a multiple user stand-alone spinner - a visual showing those changes will be posted to this page when it is available.

PUBLIC INPUT MEETING #1 - PLAYGROUND WORKSHOP

Thursday, October 10, 2022 at 6:00 pm – online meeting via Zoom

• Park Playground Input Process PDF 
• Oak Park Heights Park Neighborhood Playground Map PDF 
• Oak Park Heights Park Playground Existing Conditions PDF 
• Oak Park Heights Park Playground Existing Site Photos PDF 
• Oak Park Heights Park Playground Workshop Highlights PDF 
• Playground Manufacturer Selection PDF 
• 2023 Playground Fundraising Options PDF 

Please note: this meeting was not recorded

All questions and comments regarding this workshop should be directed to Kate Kane, Landscape Architect at kkane@cityofmadison.com or (608) 261-9671.

Information on fundraising opportunities will be available at the meeting and also on-line at https://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/about/documents/ParksFundraising.pdf PDF 

For additional updates on park projects please visit: https://www.cityofmadison.com/parks/projects