Saltaire Village to replace its only playground with one financed mostly by community

The Village of Saltaire is replacing its aging playground on Neptune Walk with new equipment largely funded by community donations.

The current playground — the only one in the Fire Island village — is around 35 or 40 years old, said village administrator Mario Posillico. Construction on its replacement is expected to begin this month and wrap up before the summer.

Although the current playground is "completely safe and we maintain it properly," Posillico said, "it was approaching the end of its useful life."

The Saltaire Citizens Association initiated the project around three or four years ago, said Kathy Shaw, the previous chairperson of the organization who helped spearhead community efforts to plan and fund the playground.

More than two-thirds of the $903,467 replacement will be funded by community donations, according to a village budget for the project. The village plans to provide $300,000. 

The association in partnership with the village has hired Manhattan-based APE studio, the North American affiliate of international playground equipment manufacturer Richter Spielgeräte GmbH, to build the new playground with "natural and wooden" materials more "in sync with the Saltaire spirit," Shaw said.

The goal is to bring "not just the kids into the playground, but the whole family," and to make the equipment "more evocative of the environment that we live in," Posillico said.

"We’re hoping that ... this will be a central meeting point for not only kids, but for the older grandparents who want to watch their grandchildren, and can certainly take advantage of the seating and, hopefully, eventually the shade that will exist in the park," Shaw added.

The new playground will have around 2,400 square feet of additional space, according to planning documents from the citizens group, which also outline twice the amount of playground equipment, an accessible walkway and shaded areas provided by native plants.

"Throughout the process, there was a series of conversations with community members like, ‘What are your thoughts?’" Shaw said. "There was a lot of opportunity to have an exchange ... including the kids," who contributed to fundraising through efforts such as washing bikes and selling crafts.

Plans also show equipment for kids of all ages, including a "swaddle crow’s nest swing" and "sailboat swing," a picnic area and gazebo, and a climbing structure for toddlers. A play structure with a slide for older kids will be wheelchair accessible.

Saltaire Citizens Association chairperson Justine Markus-Sullivan, who joined the board after the project had already started, said her four kids "can’t wait" for the playground to be ready.

"They're thrilled," she said. "They're just annoyed that it's taking so long."

The kids, who are "sort of playground connoisseurs," have helped look through equipment catalogs and enjoy other playgrounds built by the same company that will build the new recreational area in Saltaire, she said.

The consensus? "They wholeheartedly approve," she said. 

By Brianne Ledda

brianne.ledda@newsday.com@brianne_ledda

Brianne Ledda covers the Town of Islip for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.