Lexington's Center Recreation Complex Playground opened Thursday, Sept. 3, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating a $1.49 million project built for people of all ages and abilities.
The playground at 80 Worthen Road is the first Play & Park National Demonstration Site in a public park in New England, according to the town's event listing. The designation, run by PlayCore's Center for Outreach, Research, and Education, recognizes play spaces that exceed standard playground requirements for accessibility and inclusive design. Signage at designated sites includes a QR code for collecting real-time data on how the playground is used.
The project replaced equipment that had been in place since 2006. A 2020 audit by Innovative Playground Services found worn play elements on structures for both the 2-to-5 and 5-to-12 age groups, missing barrier enclosures on stair side rails leading to an 80-inch-high platform, and paint erosion in high-use areas. Annual repairs at the old playground averaged $1,000 to $2,000 a year before the replacement.
New features include poured-in-place safety surfacing, replacing the engineered wood fiber that covered the old site, and universal access to all play components. The town's capital improvement plan broke the budget into $873,000 for equipment, $512,000 for construction, $100,000 for contingency and $5,000 for design. The Community Preservation Act funded the work.
The Lexington Recreation Committee requested the capital funds. Peter Coleman of Lexington Recreation and Community Programs submitted the project proposal, and the department organized Thursday's ceremony, which ran from 5 to 6 p.m. The town's event announcement thanked Lexington residents for their support in making the playground a reality.
Center Recreation is one of two community playgrounds in Lexington. The town's capital plan calls for a $1.115 million replacement at Lincoln Park in fiscal year 2027, also planned with universal access.
Also at Center Recreation, the skate park closed in early August for a roughly nine-week rebuild. Patch reported the relocated park is expected to reopen near Center Playground in late September or early October with new equipment and a fresh concrete pad.
Coming up
- Saturday, Oct. 3: Harvest Festival, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Community Center, 39 Marrett Road. Free, sensory-friendly and multi-generational.
