MANKATO, MINN – The Lincoln Park neighborhood in Mankato is a historic place.
One drive through and you’ll see impressive old houses, Historic Lincoln Park and Lincoln Community Center.
Now, you’ll see a brand–new, state–of–the–art, rustic playground nearing completion for people of all ages to play on.
“The city gave us a couple different points that they wanted us to try to accomplish,” said Andrew Pudwill from Ultimate Playground. “One, a playground that has a rustic, natural feel to it. Then they mentioned they want it to be very inclusive so for people that have all kinds of physical abilities and then also all ages.”
The all natural look, for good reason, is what stands out as drivers pass by on Stoltzman Road.
The wood is harvested and shaped in the Czech Republic by a company that specializes in playground equipment.
“It’s what is called Black Locust Wood,” explained Pudwill. “It’s a very dense, natural and hard wood. Because it’s so dense it has a very long life–span, it does very well in wet conditions and insects don’t like it because it’s too hard for them to actually eat into.”
This playground is the result of over two–years of planning by the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association.
They listened to what members of the neighborhood wanted, created a dream list and ultimately determined what was possible and what wasn’t.
“This neighborhood, which is on the national registry for historic places, has approximately 800 addresses and we’ve never had a real park,” explained Drew Campbell of the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association. “You know we have the Lincoln Park which is a historic little park, the triangle, but we’ve never had one where families can go, kids can play, have a picnic, throw a ball or throw a Frisbee.”
Most of the volunteers that helped put the playground together are from the Lincoln Park Neighborhood, so the addition to the area is already a hit with the locals.
The playground, weather permitting, is anticipated to be complete by October 19th.
