DPR project manager **Peter Norhden** showing renderings for the new playgrounds.

by Yuliya Panfil

On Tuesday evening, December 3rd, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the Department of General Services (DGS) held a final community update meeting on renovations to the playground and park near the Petworth Recreation Center (8th and Taylor Streets NW).

The purpose of the meeting was to show off the final playground renderings, and to deliver some news: over the objections of some community members, DPR is moving ahead with a Poured-in-Place rubber (PIP) playground covering, as opposed to Engineered Wood Fiber (EWF).

For those following along at home, at the last community meeting there were some fireworks over DPR’s then-preliminary decision to use PIP rubber surface for the renovated playgrounds (ie the same surface that is on the playgrounds now). The other option would have been to use EWF (wood chips).

PIP gets quite hot in the summer, and there have been concerns about some PIP surfaces containing lead. A recent DGS study of playgrounds at 79 DC schools found that almost all of these playgrounds contained trace amounts of lead (0.005%). Seventeen of the playgrounds tested for elevated amounts of lead. Most of that lead did not come from the PIP itself, but rather settled on the playground from nearby buildings or construction, however five of the playgrounds showed lead in the PIP itself. The playgrounds have since been remediated.

After the study came out, several Petworth community members pushed DPR to reconsider using PIP, and to instead use wood chips. DPR project manager Peter Norhden said that these community concerns were elevated up to the DPR director, and that DPR and DGS had several meetings to discuss the matter, but in the end they decided to stay the course with PIP, for two reasons:

First, in the community survey conducted at the outset of the playground renovation project, 55% of 650 respondents voted in favor of PIP, while only 25% voted in favor of wood chips. Granted, the survey was conducted before the lead study was released.

Second, the Petworth playground gets a lot of use, and according to experts, PIP is more durable and requires less maintenance than wood chips. DPR also noted that if lead is coming from the environment, it would be absorbed by the wood chips in the same way as the PIP, and whereas PIP can be remediated through power washing and other treatments, getting lead out of wood chips is much tougher.

DPR shares its prevention plan to address the downsides of PIP.

Community members at the meeting weren’t buying those explanations. They expressed frustration with the decision, and even more so, with the fact that their concerns had not been paid attention to.

“What is even the point?,” lamented one community member, as another wept and a third held up a PIP study she had printed out the night before.

Petworth community members express frustration at DPR’s decision to move forward with PIP playground surface.

Nevertheless, the decision appears to be final, and the upshot is that Petworth is getting a brand new playground — a privilege many communities in the District are not afforded.

In more exciting news, the playground plans are finalized, and the equipment looks great. Lots of swings, slides and nature-themed structures including tree stumps and tree trunk tunnels.

Both playgrounds will be larger than the current ones: the 2-5 year old playground will be 2,400 square feet, and the 5-12 year old playground will double in size, to 4,000 square feet.

DGS also showed off plans for the “birthday pavilion” that will be located on the north side of the field, and will replace the small stage currently in the field’s southeast corner. The pavilion will include a stage as well as a large canopy, allowing for events to be held rain or shine. The new stage will also be ADA-accessible.

Rendering of the stage and birthday pavilion

Ending on a bit of disappointing news: the construction timeline has been pushed back slightly, and the playgrounds are now scheduled to reopen in June 2020, instead of on Memorial Day as originally anticipated.