Payne Park Playground Temporarily Closes Beginning Wednesday

From the City of Sarasota:

The Payne Park playground will be temporarily closed Wednesday, August 31, through Friday, September 2, 2016 for upgrades to shade structures, inspection and general maintenance. Families are encouraged to use the many other public playgrounds located throughout the City including Bayfront Park, located at U.S. 41 and Ringling Boulevard. In addition to a playground, Bayfront Park also features the refreshing Steigerwalt-Jockey Children’s Fountain. Payne Park playground is very popular and used by tens of thousands of children every year.

To ensure the safety of all, this temporary closure is necessary to effectively upgrade and maintain the playground.

“The Circus Playground at Payne Park is one of our signature attractions,” said Reliability Maintenance Planner Wes Byington. “Due to vandalism, some of our shade structures have been severely damaged. After careful engineering by contractors Apollo Sunguard and Advanced Recreational Concepts, we will be elevating both the shade sails covering the 2-5 year old area as well as over the music zone. A crane will be brought in to erect taller anchoring posts. We will make the most of this closure as staff will also complete various maintenance tasks and landscape improvements within the playground area.”

The circus themed playground opened in June 2012. It is surrounded by 29 acres of urban parkland adjacent to the Sarasota Police Headquarters, 2099 Adams Lane, in downtown Sarasota. Payne Park also includes a half-mile exercise trail, skateboard park and tennis courts.

Image via Shutterstock