Castle Playground's Future Addressed In Jenkintown

JENKINTOWN, PA —So what's the state of the castle?

Borough school officials —Schools Superintendent Jill Takacs and School Board President Megan O'Brien said they have received several questions about the current state of the castle structure on the school playground.

They've also received inquiries about the future of the playground along with many ideas, offers, and suggestions to help with potential fundraising efforts.

"Given the vested interest that the community shares in ensuring we continue to have a safe playground for children in Jenkintown to enjoy, we are writing to share a more detailed update on the playground castle and next steps related to the structure," the two school officials said in a joint statement to the school community.

The Jenkintown Community Playground castle was built in 2002 by a community group, Jenkintown Playground Project, that raised funds, and donated time and materials to build the playground structure.

More than 600 volunteers participated in the effort at that time.

Since then, volunteers have continued to raise money and donate time to maintain the structure.

The playground is situated on school district property and is used during the day by Jenkintown students for recess and after-care.

The school district maintains the liability insurance and provides for some maintenance and upkeep.

Due to the age of the wooden structure and concerns about the integrity of the structure, now is the time to begin planning for the future of the Jenkintown Community Playground, officials said.

The school district is in the process of getting engineering assessments of the structure to better understand the need for any urgent repairs to ensure it continues to be safe for children.

The school district will provide funding for the required repairs that are needed immediately.

Once a short-term maintenance plan is established, school officials said they will work with the community on a long-term plan.

To that end, a small group has been formed consisting of school district and borough employees, school board members, and parents to better understand the history, current status of the structure, and a possible path forward for how all stakeholders can work together effectively, school officials said.

The group is currently in an information-gathering phase and will share more as we learn more.

"In the future, there will be a tremendous amount of work to do to raise funds, gather input on a potential scope and design, and eventually plan for continued maintenance. No changes will be made to the playground without community involvement, and this effort will not be a school district-led initiative, it will have to be a joint effort among all stakeholders," school officials said. "As we celebrate our 150th anniversary as a school district, we also celebrate the hard work and dedication that resulted in our community playground 22 years ago. We look forward to providing more information soon about how the program will be governed, how decisions will be made, and how those who are interested can get involved."