Building upon the success of the original Strawberry Lake Park project, the city is moving forward with its plans for a new community-build playground next spring.

“What this means is we will need volunteers to step up to help us build the new playground, just as they did 32 years ago,” Norway City Manager Dan Stoltman said.

In the 1990s, a Knights Kingdom committee that included Lorna Flesher and Donna Hayes partnered with local schools and Playgrounds by Leathers of Ithaca, N.Y., to develop the project, with funding coming from grants and donations.

“They (Leathers) pioneered community-builds and had a different vision of how a playground could be built,” he said. “These weren’t your typical structures — they had a unique look.”

The city of Norway recently made the decision to close the current Knights Kingdom playground to the public as unsafe due to deterioration. They hope to start construction on a new playground by next summer. The Department of Public Works will begin removing the old structure this fall. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News photo)

However, these wooden structures weren’t designed to last three decades.

“We have tried doing some maintenance over the last several years, but now it’s just too far gone to be saved,” Stoltman said.

Due to its current condition, the city was forced to close down the playground about two weeks ago.

“It wasn’t an easy decision but unfortunately a necessary one,” he said. “It became a true liability.”

Stoltman also noted it has become an “eyesore,” as the woodchip-covered playground floor is now grown over with weeds.

Play by Design representative Lisa DeShano visits Norway Elementary students to talk about what they want to see in a new playground to replace the old Knights Kingdom equipment in Strawberry Lake Park.

The Department of Public Works will begin to remove the old structure this fall.

Over the past several years, the Norway City Council has had many discussions on what to do with the deteriorating equipment, but it got pushed aside due to lack of funds.

The parks are a part of the general fund budget that competes with administration, public works and police, Stoltman explained. “It seems there’s never enough left for our parks,” he said.

In September, the council approved a deal to sell the city’s excess Renewable Energy Certificates for the next six years to BP Energy. RECs are tradable commodities that represent electricity generated from a renewable energy source and fed into the shared system of power lines. The city’s hydroelectric plant is capable of producing 27,000 to 30,000 RECs annually.

“This deal with British Petroleum Co. frees up the funding to make our goal more realistic,” Stoltman said. “It gives us a very good start; however, we will need to seek help from the community members and businesses to support the remaining funds needed.”

The current estimate of the project is about $450,000.

They are still looking at about a six-figure amount in donations or grant money to reach the financial goal.

Originally they had hoped to do a poured rubber surface, but the cost put a strain on the budget. They are now looking at an engineered fiber surface with poured pathways to make it ADA compliant.

“Playgrounds in general aren’t cheap — it would be a really cool look and could be something we could do down the road,” he said.

The city began to work with Play by Design of Ithaca, N.Y., which was founded by former employees of Leathers, last November after an article in The Daily News.

“They reached out and were interested in being part of the new process,” he said. “It just made sense to work with a company like Play by Design that supports community-builds. We also knew we wanted to retain the visual appeal of what the original one had.”

Play by Design representative Lisa DeShano visited the current playground and spent the day speaking with school kids about what they wanted to see in the new playground.

“I think every student submitted a drawing with their requests,” Stoltman said. “The big thing was a zip line.”

DeShano took that information to develop a modernized design for the new Knights Kingdom.

Current plans feature two play sections — one for the older children and another for the younger age group.

They will also include special sensory equipment, he said.

The new play equipment, which is made from a manufactured plastic composite, will be placed within the same footprint area of the current playground.

Stoltman said there have been some design changes, including color scheme and including a “Knight” within the structure.

The city has turned the project over to the parks and recreation board for development.

They are seeking anyone interested in the project to serve on a committee.

“There’s a lot of moving parts, and unknowns to this,” he said.

First on the agenda is to coordinate the fundraising initiative to secure the funds.

They will soon start to reach out to area businesses and community members to sponsor playground equipment, benches, tables and other features to help offset the cost.

They also plan to apply for grants.

“This isn’t 100% guaranteed, but this is what we want and we are going to do everything to get there,” Stoltman said. “There’s other options, like traditional playground equipment, but this is something we really want.”

Once finalized, a large number of volunteers will be needed for three to five days to help the Play By Design Co. with the construction.

“An hour of your time will be needed just as much as your donations,” he said.

Stoltman hopes that work on the new playground can begin in the spring or summer.

He also encourages the public to go on the Play by Design website to see a community build in action.

“As we keep moving forward with donations and people signing up, it becomes more and more real,” he added. “We are excited to see the new Knights Kingdom come to life, and to see it built by the hands of our community.”

Anyone interested in being part of this project, either volunteering time or through a financial donation, can contact the Norway City Hall at 906-563-9961.

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Terri Castelaz can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85241, or tcastelaz@ironmountaindailynews.com.