Mesa Park to get a facelift

Mesa City Council approved the awarding of the Kingsborough Park project to Concast Corporation Monday night.

Concast Corporation was given the project because they were the lowest bidder at $262,660.

Kingsborough Park, located in the 2300 block of E. Holmes Ave., was built in 1983 and has not had a facelift since. The park also currently does not meet the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) regulations.

Because the park was built prior to the regulations being put in place in1992, the park was not required to comply with guidelines put forth by the ADA.

Alex Finter, Mesa City Councilmember for District 2, said that park has been badly deteriorating over the years and is a liability issue for the city.

“The current park has old concrete structures that kids could fall off of and hurt themselves so there is a liability issue there,” Finter said. “Also, some of the plastics were quite weathered and worn so there was some real logic and reason behind it (the renovation).”

Andrea Moore, the Mesa Planning and Development Supervisor, said a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) would provide the funding for the park revamp.

“Community Development Block Grant is a block grant program that comes from the federal government,” Moore said. “It is a competitive process, and we were awarded it.”

Moore said that the Kingsborough Park renovation is one of the top priorities for playground renovations and that additional funds will be spent on the project beyond the amount of the grant.

“The grant is for approximately $265,000, but I know we are taking in a little bit more then the grant so it will be close to a $300,000 project,” Moore said.

The project will include installing new play equipment, as well as new benches, ramps and walkways, all of which will comply with the ADA requirements.

Moore said the new park will also comply with Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) regulations.

CPSC have a series of requirements that change as new equipment continues to be produced and the new park will comply with all of those requirements, Moore said.

One new feature that the park will have is two separate play areas for children of different ages.

“We are also going to create two distinctive play areas,” Moore said. “One for ages 2 through 5 and one for ages 5 through 13, right now it is all combined.”

Moore said there is no definite end date in sight for the park, however the park has a 75-day construction contract and should be finished 75 days from when the project is officially awarded to a contractor.

Kevin Christopher, a Public Information & Communications Specialist for the city of Mesa, said the item was approved Monday on consent agenda.

“It was approved on what is called consent agenda, so generally it will just be approved in the beginning, before the meeting starts, and they (city council members) don’t discuss it during the meeting unless it is taken off consent,” Christopher said.

Once the project begins the park will be closed for the duration of the construction.