Peachtree City's Braelinn playground plan starts over

Peachtree City’s plan for a $500,000 playground at the Braelinn Recreation Center is back at the drawing board. The company behind the design the City Council backed is no longer honoring its price, the city’s recreation director told an advisory group last month.

Two smaller playgrounds are further along. The same group approved new designs for Rockspray Park and Smokerise Park on Oct. 19. The group was told the equipment takes eight to 10 weeks to arrive once it is ordered.

The details are in the draft minutes of the Recreation Advisory Group’s Oct. 19 meeting. They are printed in the agenda packet for its next meeting, at 8 a.m. Monday, Nov. 9. The group advises the city and does not spend money itself.

Braelinn: back to square one

In June, Recreation and Special Events Director Harold Layton told the group that the council wanted to go ahead with two projects at the Braelinn Recreation Center, 201 Loghouse Road. His remarks are in the group’s June 8 minutes:

• a $500,000 playground with poured-in-place rubber surfacing
• a ninja course with an added 40-yard dash

He said the city hoped to finish them by spring 2027.

On Oct. 19, Layton said the price for the approved playground design “was no longer being honored by the company that had provided it.” The minutes record that “we are back to square one.” The city cannot reuse the design because it is proprietary, the minutes say.

Layton asked the company to come back with concepts at three price levels:

The minutes say the aim is a “destination park” with Peachtree City built into the design. Ideas raised at the meeting included a golf cart climber, a golf club entryway and a climbing structure based on Flat Creek Floyd or Manny the Manatee. A representative of PlayCore, a playground company, walked the group through seven principles of inclusive play.

The ninja course goes to the group Monday

The ninja course is on Monday’s agenda as “Braelinn Recreation Center Ninja Course Design.” The packet holds a drawing set from Greenfields Outdoor Fitness dated Oct. 5. It shows:

• a course of 21 features in an area about 91 feet by 45 feet
• swinging ropes, tire swings, a spider web climber, a rock wall and a finish wall
• a 40-yard dash lane

The packet gives no price for the course and no start date. The manufacturer’s manual in the packet says its outdoor fitness equipment is meant for users 13 and older.

Rockspray and Smokerise: designs approved

Both playgrounds are for children ages 2 to 5. Trees fell on both, and the city’s recreation director told the council in August they were total losses, as we reported in October.

The Oct. 19 minutes say the group voted unanimously for both designs:

• Rockspray Park, by the pond at 151 Crosstown Drive in the Braelinn area: overhead ladders, swings, balancing equipment, musical pieces and spinning equipment. Picnic tables and benches can be added, the group was told.
• Smokerise Park, 69 Smokerise Point: a “frog playground” with similar equipment, including musical pieces and climbing structures. The address is from a vendor proposal in the group’s August agenda packet.

The Aug. 10 minutes put the cost at about $50,000 to $60,000 for each playground. Layton said insurance money would be topped up with SPLOST sales tax dollars.

On Oct. 19 he said a “coming soon” sign would go up at Rockspray as soon as the purchase order was approved. The minutes do not say when that will be.

Also approved: a Battery Way restroom

The group also picked a look for a new restroom at Battery Way Park, the lakeside park with the public boat ramp on Lake Peachtree. Layton said more than 138,000 visitors had spent more than 10 minutes at the park.

The city’s capital projects manager described a simple two-stall building, placed outside the floodplain where it would save the most trees. The group chose a wood-style exterior over stacked stone.

The same meeting approved the 30% design for the rebuilt Kedron pool. Our Kedron pool story has the details.

What it means for you

• Families near Rockspray and Smokerise: new toddler playgrounds are coming, but the city has not said when the equipment will be ordered. Delivery takes eight to 10 weeks after that.
• Braelinn Recreation Center users: the big playground will not follow the design the council backed in June. Spring 2027 was the target before the price fell through.
• To have a say: the Recreation Advisory Group meets at 8 a.m. Monday, Nov. 9, in the Recreation Administration conference room, 10 Planterra Way. The full packet, with the ninja course drawings, is on the city’s meeting portal.
• For every city park, pond and playground, see our parks and trails guide and our Braelinn neighborhood guide.

We will update this story when the group acts on the ninja course and when the Braelinn concepts come back.