Broadneck Park Playground Replacement Delayed Until Fall

at Broadneck Park will have to wait a few more months, according to a county parks official.

Work was set to begin on the playground’s renovation this month, but likely won’t begin until August or September, said Anne Arundel County Recreations and Parks administrator Mark Garrity.

“We had hoped to be breaking ground now, but it looks like it’s going to be assigned to a late summer installation,” Garrity said.

Garrity said control of the project is now in the hands of the county’s purchasing department, which is “trying to get the best possible price” for the playground work.

A portion of the funding for the playground replacement was gathered from donations organized by the Friends of Broadneck Park, a grassroots group headed by a Broadneck mom—Kara McGuirk-Allison.

The organization's leader said she felt "tempered frustration" over the recent delay, but said it came with the territory.

"While I'm disappointed there won't be a new playground at Broadneck this summer, I'm not surprised that it's taking the county longer to process the contract," McGuirk-Allison said.

McGuirk-Allison's fundraising efforts began late in 2011, after seeing playground equipment go unfixed. 

The campaign came to a close shortly after Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks gave the green light on a renovation project that would tear down the existing playground at Broadneck park and replace it with all new equipment. The county is chipping in $35,000 to the effort.