On Thursday, Mayor Andy Cook, students from Westfield Middle School (WMS) and Westfield Washington Schools Superintendent Sherry Grate opened the new playground in Asa Bales Park. The students and city staff designed the new playground.
Cook
“Who better to design a playground than kids?” commented Mayor Cook. “I am proud of how these students articulated their ideas, participated in the process and, today, are seeing it come to life.”
“We want to thank the City of Westfield for engaging our students in this amazing learning opportunity to solve a real world problem and make a difference in our community,” said Ryan Haughey, Westfield Middle School principal.
The city set up a series of meetings with student representatives from WMS to identify their needs and then eventually asked them to vote on the design. The new playground incorporates a climbing-style play structure geared towards an older age group. It includes a climbing rock, netting, basket and traditional swings.
The new playground is part of an improvement plan at Asa Bales. In addition to removing the old playground equipment, the city added a Gaga Ball pit and recently opened its new Fitness Court.