Negaunee Township playground now open

NEGAUNEE TOWNSHIP -- The Iron Forge playground in Negaunee Township is now completed and ready to be enjoyed.

For the last five years, Negaunee Township has been working to build a new playground for residents and visitors to enjoy.

Township Supervisor Gary Wommer explained that during that time, the township worked with an engineer to look at all of the playground equipment to determine what was safe to keep and what had to go.

"When we got that recommendation, we just looked at (the old playground) and said, 'We have to build a whole new playground,'" Wommer said.

The process involved determining how big the playground was going to be and what the township wanted for people to enjoy.

Now, five years later, the playground is up and running.

"What you see out there right now, we have quickly learned that probably (the playground) will grow every year," Wommer said. "There's always something new, something different, something people like more than the other. We'll just stay up with that."

Wommer said the township wanted to get away from traditional swings and slides that other playgrounds have. When designing, the township tried as much as possible to keep the playground barrier-free for everyone to enjoy.

The township worked with the company Penchura, which has supplied several local communities with playgrounds and activity centers, according to the township's website.

"We wanted to stick with our iron ore mining heritage, so that's why you see all of the little shacks and tunnels and all of the mining equipment that's all over," Wommer said. "Every place that you look there is something that spins, turns (and) there's all kinds of stuff to learn."

The artist that designed the playground went out to mines and took samples and designs of what she wanted to implement into the playground, said Wommer.

"There's one piece that weighs 4,500 pounds. So it's not something that's built up on poles that you can knock around, it's pretty solid stuff," Wommer said. "It's all built with the mining motif. You know, there's little animals (like) frogs, lizards, snakes and spotted salamanders. They're not simply things that were made and glued on, they're made out of the concrete and painted."

The biggest challenge with this project, Wommer said, was the time.

He said the five-year-long process involved meeting with an engineer, putting up billboards and advertising and raising the money to make it all happen.

"Everybody was waiting. They were seeing it and they wanted it, and so did we," Wommer said. "We're about $450,000 into this right now for what you see out there, and we had to raise those funds. We took funds from our distribution from the medical marijuana tax, we took American Rescue Plan Act funds and that largely paid for it."

He said it wasn't possible for the township to have built the playground from tax money due to other priorities needing to be taken care of.

"We just couldn't build something of that skill," Wommer said. "So we had to find outside money. Well, we applied for grants but the grants just weren't there. And so, that's the way we had to go with it."

And when the time finally came, Wommer said as the township laid the wood chips, the kids were following them.

"The next day after we had the wood chips down, (the kids) were on it," Wommer said. "If you look out there, they start at 9 in the morning and they're there until 0 at night."

Wommer said the daily count is 25 to 30 cars that are at the park.

"The first week we found out that we don't have enough picnic tables, so we had to build six more quickly and get them out there because people are not just coming to play. People are bringing their picnic lunches," Wommer said.

He said other groups from outside the township are even coming to the playground. One group from Marquette of six families comes every Tuesday morning to enjoy the playground and a picnic.

"(The township) loves it," Wommer said. "You know, we didn't think that we were going to be that way but we are."

The Iron Forge playground is located at the Negaunee Township Hall.

The township is accepting donations for the playground. The township office is located at 42 E. State Highway M-35, Negaunee.

Questions can be directed to 906-475-7869.

More information can be found at negauneetownship.org/playground_2023.php.

Dreyma Beronja can be reached at 906-228-2500 ext. 548. Their email address is dberonj@miningjournal.net.