Renovated Shamrock Park Playground In Bel Air Officially Opens For Use By All Children

BEL AIR, MD — The highly anticipated unveiling of the playground renovation at Shamrock Park was met with fanfare last week.

The idea was to redesign the playground so that all children could have access to and use it.

“Starting from that idea, this is what we ended up with – this beautiful synthetic surface, which is the first of its kind in the Town of Bel Air,” Mayor Kevin Bianca said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the playground July 13.

The mayor also highlighted several pieces of additional equipment, which can be used by children with disabilities, and “two new, beautiful, paved paths” connecting either side of the playground to Lee Way and Pennsylvania Avenue, creating better access to the playground from the street and sidewalks.

With the completion of the Shamrock Park playground renovations, and the ongoing renovations at Homestead Park, “every single one of our parks and playgrounds will now be fully handicap accessible for the first time,” Bianca said.

Town Commissioner Mary Chance, who also serves as board president for the Greater Bel Air Community Foundation, said it “absolutely blows my mind” as to how well the playground project turned out.

The playground was closed from mid-May to late June for construction. Lindsey and Lucas Gebhart, of Bel Air, watched as their children Hannah, 7, and Thomas, 4, used the playground equipment on June 22, shortly after construction wrapped up and the playground reopened. The parents praised the new, softer playground surface and noted that their kids are "big fans of the 'spinny thing,'" or the spinner.

Lindsey Gebhart also appreciated keeping the sculptures of wildlife, such as a gorilla and camel, on the playground.

"We love the animals, so we’re glad that (they) didn’t go anywhere," she said.