To the editor:

I recently attended the Barrington Town Council meeting regarding the proposal to replace the Kids Kove playground equipment with an all-inclusive playground. 

I have been involved in recreation for over 41 years as a director of recreation, a past member of the recreation committee, and three years as the Barrington Recreation Director. My contributions to Barrington have been many to include saving the old West Barrington fire station; saving Chianese tennis courts; building a playing field on Sowams Road that cost only $6,000 for seed thanks to Four Town Farm and a local contractor of turf fields for donating his equipment to make the field possible; saving the recreation bond funding to build the beach structure; and gaining support from a local bank to fund summer concerts. I was instrumental in planning and building Kids Kove. 

I was disappointed in the recreation committee's endorsement of the current proposal to replace the current Kid’s Kove They failed to involve the previous committee’s structure in the planning of Kid’s Kove. That plan consisted of two committees. One committee included young people and adults with children to plan the playground and the other was to raise funds.

The planning committee included a presentation of playground equipment and design and to show the layout of the equipment for the area of Kids Kove. The current presentation of the proposed playground emphasizes the theme of inclusion but not the benefits of their playground equipment for all children. Playgrounds are for children to help develop growth by providing cognitive development, physical, and mental development as well as learning to play with others. Communicating with other playmates are the values derived from a playground designed for children and equipment that stimulate these goals. I hope this letter will bring a change in the direction of Kids Kove. 

I would recommend keeping the wood structure and applying a preservative to the wood and paint on the on the panels on the structure connected to the wood tower. The climbing structure has some fraying of the cable covers, but the cables are sound under the exterior’s coatings. 

Seek to find replacement to the existing cables or replace with a similar climbing structure with cables. I do think we need to add some interactive recreation pieces. I would recommend returning to the previous committee’s structure made up of stakeholders and exploring playground equipment companies for playground pieces and design that create exploration, fitness, and fun that will improve the playground experience for all children. If you have children that go to Kids Kove, I would recommend that you step up or show up at a council meeting to voice your concerns for the playground for children and not for the current design that is for an all-inclusive playground.

John Taylor

Barrington