With the Fourth of July firmly behind us the minds of both parents and students are turning towards the end of summer and the beginning of the school year. Officials from the East Grand School District’s (EGSD) Facilities Department are hurriedly preparing for the start of classes, finishing construction and repair projects and working to replace portions of Granby Elementary School’s (GES) playground.

Classes for East Grand’s 2016-2017 academic year will begin on Monday August 29. East Grand’s Facilities Director John Weninger has been busy over the last several weeks preparing for a playground replacement project at GES. Last week Weninger began formally removing sections of the playground, including removing the previously existing swing-set. Grand County Commissioner Merrit Linke stopped by last week to review project details with Weninger and Taura Perdue, Treasurer for the GES Parent Teacher Association.

“It is bittersweet,” Linke said in describing the playground replacement project. “This was the playground of the future. We are trying to maintain that.” The Grand County Board of County Commissioners provided $10,000 for the new playground project.

Facilities Director Weninger explained the scope of the project. “We are trying to keep the old and bring in the new,” Weninger said. Weninger said the school district had the playground professionally inspected recently and the inspector recommended replacing the playground’s swing-set. “Our swings are high use,” said Weninger who added no elements of the playground were deemed unsafe by the inspector.

Linke, as well as many other community members, assisted in construction of the current playground at GES in 1997. The project was completed over the course of a few days in the summer of 1997 with community volunteers providing much of the manpower. The high level of community involvement is something Perdue and others from the GES PTA hope to continue. “This is a community playground,” Perdue said, “And this is a community effort.”

The current GES playground made of wooden logs and featuring large spire topped towers is an iconic favorite of local youngster. Large sections of the current playground will not be replaced including the tower sections and connecting walkways. The playground’s swing-set and ancillary structures will be replaced. A fundraiser to help cover costs associated with the playground replacement project is scheduled for the fall this year.