BUTTE – The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation recently donated $5.5 million to upgrade Stodden Park.
Part of the upgrades will be a new playground with a price tag of almost $1 million.
"We went forward and said let’s make this into a destination playground," said J.P. Gallagher, the Parks and Recreation director.
The designs for the playground will be rooted in Butte’s rich mining history.
"It incorporates head frames. It has the big haul trucks that are up at Montana Resources, and mine carts. Just a lot of aspects," said Gallagher.
Parks and Recreation also wanted the playground to be a place where kids could be active.
"Kids are not just standing around on platforms, they’re climbing and crawling all over the things. There’s also going to be a resemblance of the big M, which will also be a climbing structure."
In addition to the playground, Stodden Park is getting a new pool and a carousel. The large project hopes to bring back some nostalgia of Butte’s amazing parks of the past.
"One of the main attractions that Butte used to have was the Columbia Gardens. So, we took what the Columbia Gardens was. We will never be able to rebuild that, but let’s make something special for this generation of our kids."
Residents can expect the playground to be finished by November.
