STOCKTON, Calif. — During a Tuesday night meeting, Stockton's city council members unanimously approved a plan to install new playgrounds at three parks.
The new playgrounds at Brooking, Panella and Weber Parks will cost the city $526,452.
According to city documents, a 2020 playground assessment found the playgrounds at Panella, Sandman and Weber Parks were unsafe. Crews removed equipment at the parks after the report.
Brooking Park was selected for playground replacement due to it being over 30-years-old.
"We're simply working off of that priority list. With the completion of this project, the four parks, we're going to get through those top priorities," said Jodi Almassy, Stockton's Director of Public Works. "We're actually due to do another full assessment. We have multiple parks, for instance, we just had one that we heard that got vandalized, so it's a very dynamic list and it ebbs and flows based on what's going on at the parks."
The city of Stockton is in the planning phase of installing a new all-abilities playground at Sandman Park. A review committee has chosen a design that will be finalized and presented to the city council after community outreach input.
"It's a balancing act like a lot of our different issues and resources," said Almassy. "We would love to go in and replace probably 10 playgrounds right now, but of course, we're trying to balance, trying to spread it across the city so it's equitable."
The new playgrounds at Brooking, Panella and Weber Parks are expected to be open by spring 2024.
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