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Cranberry playground renovations to start Tuesday

The “Royal Refresh” of the popular Kids Castle playground in Cranberry Township’s Community Park will begin this week, funded by donations from the Cranberry Township Community Chest.

Renovations to the playground, which were the Project of the Year for this year’s Cranberry Community Days, will start Tuesday, Oct. 18. Updates will include a new poured fall surface on the playground, an expanded play area with a zipline, a grand entrance way, and new seating areas, along with a decorative sculpture representing families and kids.

Township manager Dan Santoro said the efforts to refurbish the playground will take three or four weeks to complete. The township’s goal is to finish the project by mid to late November, he said.

“They’ll be working in phases,” Santoro said. “Depending on what they are working on, they may close off a section in the beginning to add the new section with the zipline, and then they will go to the existing playground with the fall surface, and pour the surfaces all together.”

A ribbon cutting and grand opening for the playground will likely be scheduled for sometime in spring 2023, Santoro added.

“It is one of the most popular playgrounds in the area,” Santoro said. “It is always full of parents and children from all over Cranberry and beyond.”

Santoro thanked the Cranberry Township Community Chest, as well as Cranberry Community Uniting People for facilitating the project. The full cost of the renovations, just under $300,000, is being funded by donations from CTCC, he said.

“It’s not only something for families to do together, but it’s also outdoor, active recreational opportunities for our kids to get outside and run around and play and climb, and improve their motor skills, and get away from the screens and video games,” he said. “It’s geared towards that outdoor creative play. There’s lots of different obstacles and climbing, and all kinds of different ways to engage physically.”

Township parks and recreation director Pete Geis said the playground’s update was well-timed, as fall surfaces typically last around ten years.

“I think it’s going to be perfect. That playground continues to be on the list of Western Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh’s top things to see and top things to do,” he said. “It gets used a ton. To give you an average daily visit, beautiful days average in the hundreds (of people) there throughout the entire day.”

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