Parks and Rec Board Rethinks Equipment at Madeline Park

It was recently announced that Madeline Park could be getting adult workout stations rather than a new playground, but now Parks and Recreation Board members aren’t so sure.

Amy Flaherty, the director of Sussex Parks and Recreation Department, presented multiple options to the board during Monday night’s meeting. The two manufacturers she delved into deeper could supply full sets of outdoor workout equipment for either $14,000 or $21,000.

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The reality of those prices made some board members like Tim Dietrich second guess the project altogether.

“I’m wondering how much usage we’re going to get from this,” Dietrich said. “The park is right off the Bugline, but the Bugline is mostly used by bicyclers. I mean, $21,000 is a lot of money here. Personally, I’d have to be convinced we’d get enough use out of this because I don’t see people saying, ‘Let’s go to the park and do some exercise.’”

Other board members note that getting people to use Madeline Park has historically been an issue, and maybe these types of amenities would be more frequently used if built at Village Park.

However, the budget for the equipment must be used at Madeline Park because of Sussex’s initiative to redevelop a specific park every two years, a plan that was kicked off in 2011 with the reconstruction of Ridgeview, Prides Crossing and Spring Green parks.

Parks and Recreation Board members decided they needed more convincing.

“Staff was excited about the new equipment from a general programming perspective, but I can talk with other communities that have this to see what type of use they get,” Flaherty said. “In my opinion, it doesn’t hurt to do more research, and even if we don’t act upon it, it doesn’t hurt to exercise due diligence. This project wouldn’t be until next year anyway, so we have time.”

Flaherty said she’s planning to gather more information about usage for the next board meeting.