New Lincolnview playground unveiled

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

If you’re of a certain age, you may remember what playgrounds used to be like. Questionable swings, death trap merry-go-rounds, wooden cinders and metal slides that could cause second degree burns are just some of the things that come to mind.

That was then, this is now and at Lincolnview Elementary, students and the community are now able to enjoy a brand new state-of-the-art playground.

Swings, slides, and plenty of climbing attractions, including one that looks like a giant spider web, an “Areo-Glider” and more were on full display during a Thursday evening open house at the playground. Judging by the reactions of dozens of children and their families, it’s a big hit. Prior to the open house, there was a brief ceremony and school officials cut the ribbon on the new $1.5 million facility.

“We’re so proud of what we have,” Superintendent Jeff Snyder said. “I can’t thank our board enough for the vision of wanting to do this for our kids. I know that $1.5 million is a lot of money but this is going to be used all day, probably day, not in the winter so much but maybe a little bit.”

“It fits all needs of all kids and it’s comprehensive,” he continued. “Any challenged kids that have physical needs, growth needs, we’ve hit it. We’ve tried to hit every part of it and we tried to get the neatest things for kids, things that are safe but fun.”

“We added so many more fun things. We took out all the mulch that for 26 years was in this area and we put in poured rubber, so now there’s no mulch going into the building, it’s not on shoes, kids don’t have it in their hands, it’s more safe and more condusive for the kids.”

“It’s a little different than our time when we got to be on the playground,” he added with a chuckle.  

The inspiration for Lincolnview’s new playground came from a neighboring school district – Spencerville.

“We went over and looked at theirs and we loved what we saw,” Snyder stated. “We did our homework and looked at other places and heard great responses.”

Based on that, Lincolnview school officials gave Midstates Recreation the green light to design and install the new playground. 

While Lincolnview’s old playground wasn’t nearly as bad as playgrounds of several decades ago, Snyder previously noted it was growing old and was in need of replacement. He also reiterated that the playground isn’t just for the elementary school, it’s for the community.

“Van Wert people, Crestview people, Delphos people – we expect it to be used,” he said.