Attachments

20260428-154721-183-PPP_Central Park Playground Design & Plan Guiding Document_4.20.26.pdf

HONESDALE, PA — Supporters of and organizers behind the People's Playground Project (PPP), a community-led effort to restore playground equipment to Honesdale's Central Park, gathered at borough hall on Monday, April 27 to ask the borough council's support for the next phase of the project. 

PPP aims to install an upgraded and expanded playground in Central Park, working from a plan created through months of community conversations. The plan, estimated to cost $400,000 in grants and fundraised monies, aims to create a space that welcomes all community members regardless of their age and ability.  (See full plan attatched to this article.)

The borough council voted 5-2 in favor of moving forward in partnership with PPP, with council members James Hamill and William McAllister voting against. The group plans a multi-phase roll-out of playground equipment, with swings planned to arrive in 2026, the bulk of the playground structures planned to arrive in 2027 and final amenities including a permanent bathroom planned for 2028. 

A map of the proposed playground design for Honesdale's Central Park shows different aspects of the playground's design.

A map of the proposed playground design shows the different areas to be used by people of different ages.

A detail from the proposed plans for Honesdale's Central Park Playground shows an overhead view of the park.

A detail from the proposed plans for Honesdale's Central Park Playground shows the playground's Irving Hill, with attached star.

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Accessibility

The existing play structures in Central Park were removed in October 2025, following a report that indicated the tire mulch underneath the structures was harming nearby trees. In returning play structures to the park, PPP aimed to create a space that better welcomed Honesdale residents and visitors of all ages. 

The proposed playground includes seperate sections for little kids (specifically, toddlers), bigger kids, teenagers and people of all ages. The portion of the park with playground equipment aimed at smaller children has a fence surrounding it, separating it from the section aimed at teens and adults and protecting children from nearby traffic. 

The design includes aspects of Honesdale's history and culture, including a climbable Stourbridge Lion structure (the steam locomotive that's central to Honesdale's history and its claim as the birthplace of American steam locomotion) as well as an "Irving Hill" that mirrors the onlooking Irving Cliff. 

Organizers chose specific pieces of equipment and design elements to include people of all different levels of ability. Brianne Font, one of the project's members, went over several different aspects of the design and their ties to accessibility, such as the choice of a roller slide (with low-friction benefits for children with limited mobility) and the inclusion of communication boards, signs with various symbols on them to aid in non-verbal communication. 

"A playground without inclusivity doesn't just limit access; it creates moments where community members are left out," said Font. "A grandparent watching from a distance because the path isn't safe. A toddler falling on unstable ground. A child in a wheelchair unable to access the equipment and watching from the sidelines. A parent constantly on edge about their child going into the street. A family leaving the park because their basic needs like a bathroom aren't met. But when we design with intention and inclusion in mind, these same moments can be transformed."

People's Playground Project organizer Lisa Glover listens to comments from borough council member James Hamill at a Monday, April 27 council meeting.

RR photo by Liam Mayo

Community engagement

Organizers behind the project touted the amount of community outreach that had led up to the plan. They said they had received upwards of 1,600 pieces of feedback from community members over four months of planning, with outreach taking place through online surveys, in person events and other avenues. Special attention was paid to capturing the perspective of children and teens throughout the surveying process. 

During a question and answer portion of the meeting, borough councilor James Hamill questioned whether the PPP's surveys had reached a broad enough swath of the community. From his perspective, the surveys had been geared towards those who wanted some kind of playground in that space and who held a stake in seeing a playground return, to the possible exclusion of the broader population. 

"We can't deny the absolute impressive nature of the planning process, the feedback that you got from so many people of so many backgrounds [and] ages," Hamill said. However, he said, "Did we survey everybody who cares for that bigger space, that larger park, formerly called the public square, or [did] it really more narrowly [survey] the group of parents, teens, children and the like?"

Organizer Lisa Glover said the survey process included two wide-spread online surveys with open-ended questions. Out of roughly 600 responses to those surveys, "We had exactly one person who expressed they did not want… a playground to be in Central Park."

In a statement to the media the day after the meeting, Glover pointed out other examples of community planning initiatives that had gone ahead with less feedback than the PPP received. The PPP tallied 1,622 pieces of feedback, she said; for comparison, the Wayne County Comprehensive Plan update in 2024 received 329 survey replies, and the Greater Honesdale Partnership's Honesdale Revitalization Plan received 550 pieces of feedback. 

Next steps

With borough approval in hand, PPP will look to raise monies through community fundraising and through grant applications, as well as secure professional review of the park plans. 

Projected phases for the project include a first phase in summer and fall 2026, installing swings; a second phase in spring 2027 with a first wave of equipment; a third phase in summer and f all 2027 installing the rest of the equipment; and a fourth phase in 2028 installing final amenities including a bathroom. The timing of all phases depends on the availability of funding. 

Editor's note: The reporter on this story works part time at a business owned by the partner of Luke Green, who served as a committee member with the PPP.