Play time: Wooton Wonderland children’s playground reconstruction underway in Tavares

TAVARES — It’s out with the old and in with the new: Construction is officially underway at the Wooton Wonderland playground in Tavares.

The project is expected to be completed by early 2023. This playground will be safe, upgraded and disability-friendly, while still encompassing the history of Wooton Park that children and families have enjoyed since 1992.

Wooton Wonderland was closed July 5 to begin construction, but the children’s splash pad and Wooton Park itself are still open.

“It was built in 1992 and, as playgrounds go, it had reached its usable life,” said Mark O’Keefe, public communications director for the city of Tavares. “It was well-loved and had been played on quite hard by the children of the past several decades — my kids included.”

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Background

In January 2020, the city received a request to upgrade the playground after years of wear and tear from the community.

In May of 2021, the Tavares City Council approved the Wooton Wonderland design and authorized the project.

“A lot of the features of the park had fallen apart and had to be removed over the years,” O’Keefe said. “It was a park that was built by the community and we knew that the time had come to replace all the features of it.”

In June of this year, the construction bidding process was complete and the council awarded the bid to Marbek Construction.

The city’s budget for the construction of the new playground will be $953,160.86. This amount also includes costs refurbish the children’s splash pad in Wooton Park.

History of Wooton Park

Wooton Wonderland has been a staple of Wooton Park in Tavares for three decades.

The Tavares Junior Woman’s Club and the Kiwanis Club worked together to raise money for materials and tools to build the playground for the community. It came to fruition in 1992.

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Since then, the playground has been a spot for children in Tavares and visitors from all around the country to play and enjoy.

“One of the interesting pieces of the new park will be incorporating some of the features from the original Wooton Wonderland into the new park as a nod to the history of the old and original park,” O’Keefe said.

New design renderings

So what will the new playground look like?

Plans for the new playground include a net airplane, control tower, new swings, a refurbished xylophone and other upgraded playground equipment.

Net airplane and control tower design renderings for the Wooton Wonderland Children’s Playground.

The new control tower will have a state-of-the-art design that will allow air to circulate to provide cooler temperatures year-round for kids playing inside, with a warm air exhaust and a cold air intake.

There are also plans for a new xylophone, which has always been a playground favorite.

“They’re removing the xylophone, which was a very popular thing in the Wooton Wonderland Children’s Park, and they’re going to be refurbishing that, along with two or three other items, ” O’Keefe said.

Another significant feature of the new park is that it will be disability-friendly.

“The park will be ADA accessible for children with disabilities. The current park was not because those design standards were not in place 30 years ago when the park was built,” he said.

O’Keefe said that he’s heard concerns regarding the grand oak trees being removed from the park. However, he wants to assure the community that they will be remaining.

Design renderings for the Wooton Wonderland Children’s Playground in Tavares.

“They are going to clean them up and they’re going to do some tree work to make it even better and get rid of some of the lower branches, but maintain that shade canopy which is super important if you’re a parent in a park with kids,” O’Keefe said.

The new and improved Wooton Wonderland Children’s Playground will be open to the public either at the end of December or early January.

The construction plan has three phases and, so long as the weather cooperates, it should stay on schedule, O’Keefe said.

This article originally appeared on Daily Commercial: Tavares’ revamped Wooton Wonderland playground to open in 2023