By Jessica Tuggle
jtuggle@hometownnewsol.com
SEBASTIAN — Children visiting the Barber Street Sports Complex can drop anchor and play for hours on the new “Jolly Voyager” pirate ship playground.
The 45-foot by 30-foot newly installed pirate ship playground can be found in a sea of rubber mulch at the Creative Playground site.
Young lads and lasses can scurry up and down the stairs, pop in and out of the portholes and walk the plank while imagining all sorts of nautical adventures.
The recreational revamp was granted $100,000 from city impact fees, but the final expenditures are expected to cost less than that, said Chris McCarthy, Sebastian parks superintendent.
Impact fees are fees collected by the city on development projects, such as new businesses or residential homes, with the purpose of covering the cost of expansion or growth or capital improvements needed to allow the development to occur.
The playground total came to $80,943, and still to come are more sidewalks, extra landscaping and a few more picnic tables. None of those items are expected to take the project over budget, he said.
The old playground was made of wood and sections of the fortress had deteriorated over the years. On the recommendation of the city insurance provider, the playground was demolished, Mr. McCarthy said.
Sand had been the surface type of choice in years past, but to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, the new playground will have rubberized mulch, which is also used at the Easy Street Park in Sebastian.
The pirate playground area also had new canopy shades installed, which were part of a different parks improvement project.
For more information about city parks, visit www.cityofsebastian.org/parks.