McKay Park is getting new playground equipment this year. (Saphara Harrell/ Salem Reporter)
When it came to McKay Park, Carol Snyder said she knew there was a lot of work to be done.
To help, she and the Salem Parks Foundation raised $96,000 to buy new playground equipment, giving kids in northeast Salem a new place to play.
Sprucing up the playground is overdue, said Snyder, president of the foundation. She noted most of the decades-old playground equipment has been removed. The two pieces that remain – a play structure and a set of toddler swings — were becoming derelict.
“We just noticed that McKay Park was deteriorating and deteriorating and deteriorating,” she said.
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It was two years ago when Snyder went to Salem City Council and offered a deal: if the city would budget money for site preparation, the parks foundation would raise money for the playground equipment.
Those dollars bought two sets of swings, a large play structure, and a smaller piece of equipment for younger kids. The money also helped pay for installation.
On Thursday, the city broke ground.
Combined with the foundation’s new money, the city budgeted $82,000 for the excavation and site preparation for the new playground equipment, city documents show.
The new playground will be moved to a flatter location, because the current area isn’t ADA complaint.
Snyder said the playground — located on 2755 Hollywood Dr. N.E. — should be ready to play on by the fall.
McKay Park is getting new playground equipment this fall. (Saphara Harrell/Salem Reporter)
Have a tip? Contact reporter Saphara Harrell at 503-549-6250, [email protected] or @daisysaphara.
