WATSON — Community users of the Watson School Playground will have to wait a little while longer for new equipment, as the Jupiter Playground Project is being reworked amid the pandemic.
Rhoda Ehlert, chair of the Watson School Community Council, said that while they’re still accepting donations, fundraising is pretty much on hold.
“We’re hopeful that we can do some fundraising, but trying to be contactless is hard,” Ehlert said. “Just as the project’s evolving we’ve seen new pieces come out, so I guess I wouldn’t call it the ‘Jupiter Project’ anymore.”
Since starting the fundraising 18 months ago, Ehlert said they’ve had several challenges.
“It is not a six month project, it’s triple that, especially now,” she said. “There’s also new stuff coming out, big catalogues come out and prices change too. The price we had 18 months ago when we started this project is probably different now.”
The original projected price was $35,000, which involved two pieces – a mesh tire style swing and a spider climb based structure.
So far, the council has raised about $17,000, including an additional recent donation from ACE Hardware of $1,000 in early November.
Previous fundraisers have included school hot lunches, and a town-wide barbeque.
Ehlert said the goal of getting new equipment for the playground will continue, but it will have to be discussed if it will still be those specific playground structures that’s purchased.
