PORT ANGELES – Officials of The Dream Playground Foundation in Port Angeles posted an update on the effort to rebuild the portion of the playground that burned down in December, providing an early estimate of the cost of rebuilding and an enthusiastic “thank you” to the public for their response to the tragedy.
The update says they’ve been checking with suppliers and their design/build coordinator, and they’re “very optimistic” that they can rebuild this year, possibly by early to mid-summer. The availability of the specialized building materials will be key.
Members of the community have been signing up in droves to help with the rebuild. Over 250 volunteers have committed to taking part in a planned week-long rebuild.
The build completed in 2021, cost around $650,000. Foundation officials tentatively estimate that the materials and play surface needed for the rebuild will be in the $400,000 to $500,000 range.
Material costs have gone up by about 25%, but much of the original prep work and infrastructure will not need to be redone.
That said, money is pouring in. The Foundation has already received between $140,000 and $150,000 in private and business support, and they’ve been told more may be on the way.
On the issue of insurance, the update says the situation is unclear at this point. The City is currently working with their insurer, but they say there is a large deductible for in these kinds of events and coverage for play structures can sometimes be weak. We expect more on that later.