Members of the Lions Club show off some of the equipment newly installed at their playground on Washington Avenue.
The Saugerties Lions Club continues to expand the playground on Washington Avenue. A new swing set will soon be added. Along with local resident Heidi Jo Brandt, club members have been raising money to add more activities for children.
Several years ago, an adjuster for the then village’s insurance company inspected all the village’s playgrounds and declared most of the equipment unsafe, even though the slides, swings, and other equipment had been used by youngsters for years. The insurance company told the village its liability insurance would be dropped if the equipment weren’t removed.
Village officials had the “unsafe” equipment removed and changed insurance carriers.
Brandt, other village volunteers and the Lions Club began raising money to bring safer slides and swings to the parks.
Sam Havranek, a foreman for Pettinelli Recreation, an Albany-based company that installed the swing set and much of the other equipment at the Lions Club playground, said his company was helping make the community a better place for the kids.
Once the swing set is installed, the village’s parks and buildings department will dig out around the swings and backfill the space with sand and a specially treated mulch.