Grinnell's Beach playground equipment: Where’d it go?

Flood zone insurance rates, costs said to be prohibitive

By Tom Killin Dalglish
Posted 10/19/17

TIVERTON — Some have wondered what happened to the playground equipment that used to be installed at the just-renovated Grinnell's Beach.

Councilor Randy Lebeau posed the question at last week's council meeting, saying "somebody came to me today and asked me about a swing set" at the beach, or a soccer area. He didn't know anything about it, Mr. Lebeau said.

And a letter writer (Jon Kemp, of Tiverton, see page 6) lamented the passage of the days when there were swings and slides at the beach for children of all ages to enjoy.

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Grinnell's Beach playground equipment: Where’d it go?

Flood zone insurance rates, costs said to be prohibitive

Posted

TIVERTON — Some have wondered what happened to the playground equipment that used to be installed at the just-renovated Grinnell's Beach. 

Councilor Randy Lebeau posed the question at last week's council meeting, saying "somebody came to me today and asked me about a swing set" at the beach, or a soccer area. He didn't know anything about it, Mr. Lebeau said.

And a letter writer (Jon Kemp, of Tiverton, see page 6) lamented the passage of the days when there were swings and slides at the beach for children of all ages to enjoy.

"A friend speculated that the playground won’t be rebuilt due to liability issues. Hogwash.  Anyone can sue anybody for anything," Ms. Kemp said. 

"It’s sad," she said. "All this money, and our beach playground is lost. Yes, there are other playgrounds, but they are not responsive to kids going to a beach or to family fun offering something for everyone, year round in the village center. Even on cold winter days, I saw moms, dads and grandparents get coffee at Coastal Roasters or Cumberland and stroll over with their kids to the beach playground. The town needs to rebuild its playground for our children, nothing big, but simple like the one we had — a small footprint befitting an historic sailing village with a swing set and a slide attached to a climbing platform to play make believe — and to dream." 

Councilor Patricia Hilton responded to these to concerns about the absence of playground equipment at the beach. Ms. Hilton spearheaded the committee that found the funding for and organized the effort to renovate Grinnell's Beach, an undertaking just about completed, and that only awaits the installation of sail shades on the pad that used to house the old gas station at the site to be considered finished.

"There was some playground equipment that was there before, that was pretty dilapidated and in very poor  condition," she said. "And frankly, according to our former town administrator, was an insurance liability because it was in such bad shape."

The beach committee had a discussion, Ms. Hilton said, "and made a decision not to replace the playground equipment for two reasons.

First, she said, "we have some nice playgrounds right now, including at Fort Barton which is not very far away, and a lot of people said they wanted more beach area."

The second reason, Ms. Hilton said, was "that in this day and age, and to meet insurance requirements, really good playground equipment is incredibly expensive, especially if you're going to install it at what FEMA says is a flood zone."

"So by the time we looked at what the price of that might be,"she said, "and the fact we'd need CRMC permission to put this really expensive stuff in a flood zone — and it won't be insured by the way — we just opted not to do permanent equipment."

Ms. Hilton said the plan was to provide some kinds of recreational equipment — volleyballs and volleyball nets, for example, and other things that kids could do  — that could be used during the day and stored in the bath house at night.

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