An upgrade of the school-age section of Calvert Hills Playground and Athletic Field was completed in early March after two years of planning.
The playground on Calvert Road has a new swing set and other play structures as part of a larger project to restore playgrounds around College Park.
Former College Park City Councilmember John Rigg helped move the Calvert Hills project forward.
“I advocated for upgrades to all of our playground equipment, including at that park but not exclusive to that park,” Rigg, who lives in Calvert Hills and represented District 3 until December, said. “In my eight years on council, the thing that I derived the most undiluted joy from was helping the community develop parks and playgrounds. People just love them.”
The new equipment at Calvert Hills includes a two-level play structure for children ages 5 to 12. The module includes slides, monkey bars, a mini climbing wall and a bridge from Playground Specialists.
It also includes the city’s only We-Go-Round, a wheelchair-accessible spinner.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the city of College Park’s Capital Improvement Program jointly funded the $118,000 project.
An attached toddler section of the Calvert Hills Playground received a facelift in early 2024 as part of a $1.1 million, citywide capital improvement project. That initiative bundled the renovation of six neighborhood play spaces, all completed by July 2024.
The other five playgrounds are located at pocket parks in Old Town and The Mews; neighborhood playgrounds at Muskogee and Davis Field; and the larger Hollywood Park.
In a separate project, the playground at Lakeland Neighborhood Park got a total overhaul before reopening in March 2024. The renovation created separate play areas for toddlers and older children.
Among the upgrades were new climbing structures and slides and improvements to drainage areas, walkability and accessibility within the park.
The project was a joint effort by the city and the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission (M-NCPPC).
M-NCPPC also renovated a county-owned playground at the College Park Community Center.
And a playground that is part of the city’s $7.9 million Duvall FIeld renovation is expected to open this summer.
City Councilmember Daniel Oates (District 3), the former president of the Calvert Hills Citizen Association, explained that the city worked closely with the group to create a playground that the neighborhood could support.
The Calvert Hills site features bright blue and green colors, as well as swings that can support a child’s full body, allowing children with physical and mental disabilities to play on them.
The city’s Planning and Community Development Department and Department of Public Works managed the project.
Because part of the funding came from the state, Rigg said, the playground and its equipment had to mirror what was there before.
“The grant funding in particular could really only be used for things that were substantially the same scope and size as the current playground equipment,” Rigg said. “We couldn’t double the size of it.”
Since its reopening last month, neighborhood parents have given the space positive reviews, Oates said.
“People are enjoying the playground a lot,” Oates said. “I am there almost every day myself with my kids.”
Because the playground is next to the University of Maryland Child Development Center, it is most crowded after school, Oates said.
“What I’ve seen more recently is people actually go in there on Saturday or Sunday,” Oates said, “[and] say, ‘Hey, that’s the good place. That’s the place we want to go play at now’ because it has the new equipment.”
“It makes me so happy that people derive joy and satisfaction from this type of project,” Rigg said. “I walked over the other day and people were playing happily. I was so happy.”