New Playground Planned For Treadwell

By Jeff White

Young Treadwell Park enthusiasts have something to look forward to: a new playground.

Newtown resident Tammy Marks in joining forces with the Newtown Lions Club and the Parks and Recreation Department to build a new, modern playground that will replace the existing one. Mrs Marks, the mother of five children, was asked to organize the project by Parks and Recreation Director Barbara Kasbarian.

“I thought it would make a great addition to the town,” she said this week. “It’s something that Treadwell really needs.”

Although the project’s fund-raising and design officially kicked off this week, Mrs Marks has been at work on it for the past two years. When completed, Treadwell’s new playground will mirror the modern diversions located at Head O’ Meadow and Hawley Schools, and over at Dickinson Park.

Almost $7,000 has been raised toward the project through some early public relations efforts and brochures disseminated by Mrs Marks’ playground committee. The project is expected to cost between $65,000 and $80,000. 

The playground committee and Newtown Lions will join forces on several major fund-raisers, according to the club’s president, Gordon Williams. There will be a “Pennies from Heaven” drive that will charge Newtown students to cull coins at their various schools.

There will also be either a Lions auction and dinner dance or a casino night and dinner sometime in the fall.

Mr Williams said that Treadwell’s new facility, when completed, will have separate play areas, one for toddlers and one for older children.

Mr Williams emphasized this week that the project would be a community-wide endeavor, and that anyone interested in lending a hand to fundraising efforts, construction, publicity, or naming the new playground should call Mrs Marks at 426-5333.

If the fundraising goes smoothly, the project will be ready to break ground in about a year’s time. The project will be coordinated through Parks and Recreation.

“The playground will help make Treadwell a more complete destination,” Mr Williams said.