County Awards Bid For New Playground at Dwyer Memorial Park in Little York

At Thursday’s Cortland County Legislative meeting, the Legislature awarded the bid for a new playground at Dwyer Memorial Park in Little York. The previous playground at the park was removed by the county earlier this year due to safety concerns. County Safety Director Jason DeRaiche made the determination that the playground failed to meet safety standards.

The playground faced increased scrutiny after an injury at the playground ended up costing the county hundreds of thousands of dollars from a lawsuit.

However, this past March, funding for a new playground was secured after talks on the utilization of funding from the Tobacco Asset Securitization fund. Talks led to the Tobacco Asset Securitization Corporation to agree in allocating $80,000 of funding for a new playground at Dwyer Memorial Park.

The winning bid for the new playground went to WillyGoat of Birmingham Alabama in the amount of $54,000. The winning bid includes the playground equipment, installation, and shipping. The design by the company is called the “Galveston Playground.”

Images of the playground through WillyGoat’s website, show the playground featuring 5 slides, 6 climbers (two overhead climbers), drums, and various unique panels. The company notes the playground has ADA compliant components and/or transfer station and an age range for those 5 to 12 years old.

The county plans to continue further improvements at Dwyer Memorial Park. One of those improvements includes updating the current basketball courts.

*Feature image shows playground design only. Color pallet is not based on decision by county*

Article Correction: Funding has only been allocated from the Tobacco Asset Securitization Corporation, no grant money has been received to date.