Batavia Township officials, along with local families, cut the ribbon for the new playground at the community center Oct. 28.

Batavia Township officials, along with local families, cut the ribbon for the new playground at the community center Oct. 28.
By Kristin Rover
Sun staff

Batavia Township Trustees and dozens of children attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new playground at the Batavia Township Community Center Oct. 29.

“Thanks for coming out,” Bill Dowdney, president of the board of trustees, said during the ceremony. “We try to do projects like this, and these days it’s not often that we get the money to do these projects.”

In August, trustees approved the purchase of a second playground for the community center.

The new playground was completed this month and is located behind the soccer fields at the community center.

Administrator Rex Parsons said volunteers, who helped piece the playground together Oct. 3, saved the township about $12,000.

Trustee Jim Sauls also thanked the service department for all of their hard work on the project.

“Thank you to the service department,” Sauls said. “They worked really hard and diligently.”

The playground features activities for children 5-12 years old including multiple slides, climbing areas for older children as well as a separate play area for younger children.

“It’s good,” Jashawn Fletcher, a 6-year-old, said about the playground after testing it out. “I like the tree!”

Children had an opportunity to try out all of the different features on the playground after the ribbon cutting.

“I love it,” Sarah Hildebrand, a Batavia Township resident who brought her child to the event, said about the new playground. “It’s really nice that it is so close.”

Hildebrand said they come over to the other playground a lot, and it is nice to have a new one.