Community Celebrates New Doric Ave. Playground

On Monday, a group of families, children, civic leaders and workers gathered to celebrate a recent investment in Cranston children.

That investment is in the form of places to hang, climb, slide, jump, swing and otherwise be a child.

It’s a new playground on Doric Avenue and it brings a major overhaul to a playground centered in the Auburn neighborhood in the city’s eastern side.

At the same time, officials marked the beginning of the city’s summer playground camps, which will take advantage of the new playground and a whole lot more, like water slides at Yagoo Valley, a PawSox game, swimming at Cranston’s Budlong Pool and much more.

“Programs such as our Playground Summer Camp demonstrate why Cranston is such a wonderful place to live,” said Cranston Mayor Allan W. Fung. “We provide our young people with a safe and fun environment at a reasonable cost to their parents and events such as this, where we are surrounded by the smiling faces of some of Cranston’s youngest residents, make our efforts all the more rewarding.”

Parks and Recreation Director Anthony “Tony” Liberatore was also on hand for the ribbon cutting, beaming with pride. As the head of his department, he knows better than anyone how a fresh new playground can lift the spirit and prospects for an entire neighborhood.

Also on hand was Ward 2 City Councilman Don Botts, who noted in a recent Facebook post that the hope is that the basketball courts will be refurbished next year.

The City Playground Summer Camp Program serves youth from all parts of the City at four convenient playground locations: Doric Avenue, Garden City, Glen Hills, and Hope Highlands. Currently there are approximately 450 children participating in the summer program, which includes playground camp, tennis, theater, and arts and crafts.

The City Playground Camp program runs from Monday June 22nd until Friday August 14 and more information can be obtained on the city website: www.cranstonri.org.

Photo courtesy: Allan W. Fung (Twitter: @MayorFung)