Playground coming to Paradis

Creativity touted with making park a reality

It’s a project nearly a year in the making, but Billy Woodruff is pleased with the creativity and cooperation that is bringing a playground to Paradis.

“It was important to me because Paradis was the only town in St. Charles Parish that didn’t have a playground,” Woodruff said. “I found a relatively inexpensive way to do it.”

By using nearly an acre that the parish already owns adjoining the library branch there, the only major expense associated with the project will be about $40,000 for equipment, said Woodruff, the councilman who represents the area.

“I knew if I could get recreation and the library to work together we could just put equipment there,” he said.

That’s exactly what happened.

The St. Charles Parish Library and St. Charles Parish Department of Parks and Recreation came together to make the playground happen. Collectively, they agreed the equipment should also be educational so it will include lady bugs and caterpillars that the children can learn about as they play.

“Working together made this a reality,” Woodruff said.

The equipment should be installed around Thanksgiving, he said. Children should be playing there by January.

“We wanted it to kind of blend in with what the library had and keep enough green space to have their events,” he said.Older children there have been using the fields at nearby J.B. Martin Middle School, but Woodruff said there was no place for the younger kids.

Additionally, a bench will be placed under an oak tree there as a nice place to read.

Overall, Woodruff said this was a campaign promise he made about a year ago when he was re-elected that he’s glad to keep.

“I think it’s a pretty good accomplishment being good to the area,” he said. “I made promises and I’m coming through with them.”

 

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