by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com

Equipped with a smiley face sticker, 94 Claremont residents cast their votes Wednesday for which new playground they’d like to see built at Lewis Park.

Voters at Alexander Hughes Community Center had four options, each choice equipped with two play areas, one for children ages 2 to 5 and another for those up to age 12.

“The sticker vote is to do an informal poll of what does the community like in the four different designs from two different designers that were provided,” Claremont Community Services Department Director Jeremey Swan explained.

Option four by recreation equipment designers and manufacturers Kompan was the clear favorite with 76 sticker votes. Options one and two by Great Western Recreation garnered five and 11 votes, respectively, while Kompan’s other rendering, option three, received two votes.

Asher Jacobsen explains his choice for a new playground at Lewis Park to his mother, Anna Jacobsen, a member of Better Claremont Playgrounds, Wednesday at Alexander Hughes Community Center. Courier photo/Andrew Alonzo

Both of option four’s playgrounds are made from robinia wood. Amenities include bucket swings, a junior spica or spinning toy, a musical play panel, and a dual slide feature. The older kids’ play area features a bird nest and double swing set, jungle dome, and a vaulting contraption called a cliff diver.

The younger children’s play area can accommodate about 26 kids, the older children’s area up to 84, according to Swan.

Option four’s blend of sustainability, inclusivity and accessibility seemed to have struck a chord with residents.

“It looked more natural, less ‘plastic-y,’” said Amanda Wirtz, a resident near Lewis Park. “There are climbing elements, there was the … cliff rider. That looks really, really cool. I really went with the vote for what my daughter wanted. This is her playground. This is her opportunity to get involved and really have her voice heard.”

Her daughter Emma Wirtz put a sticker on option four and said the rendering “looks more fun than the other one that we have now.”

“It just looked better” said Aaron Li Jr., a Claremont child who voted for option four. His father, Aaron Li Sr., said he voted for option four because he liked the design’s spacing.

The vote comes after a June 26 community workshop to inform the city on what residents wanted from a Lewis Park playground retrofit.

“Since the last meeting we have received requests to look at alternate playgrounds vendors and equipment that incorporates wood aspects, accessible play elements, functional playground art features, and equipment for older children like zip lines and climbing nets,” Claremont Public Information Officer Bevin Handel wrote in an email Monday.

Days after the June workshop, the city opened a survey about city park and playground usage. “As of Monday, we had 271 responses to the survey that opened July 1 and closes August 8,” Handel wrote. The survey at ci.claremont.ca.us is linked on the city’s homepage banner.

The city tapped Great Western Recreation and Kompan to create concept renderings after receiving resident feedback at the June 26 meeting. Both companies designed to a $500,000 budget — funds that will come from the city’s restricted Park Dedication Funds — and brought back their initial designs Wednesday for the community vote.

Swan’s team will now begin working with Kompan to get a final quote and buildable design package. From there, the design will likely head to the parks, hillsides, and utilities committee in September for approval, then to the community and human services commission, and finally to City Council in October. Swan stressed that timing is a best-case scenario. But, if all goes smoothly, a developer could break ground by mid-January 2025, with construction taking some six to eight weeks, he said.

On Monday, the Courier reached out to Better Claremont Playgrounds, a group of residents who have vocalizedClaremont’s need for more engaging, adaptive, and sustainable play equipment. Anna Jacobsen, a member of the group,wrote in an email that the group viewed Wednesday’s meeting as a pivotal moment.

“This meeting is crucial as it will determine the playground design for Lewis Park, with potential implications for future playground projects in Claremont,” Jacobsen wrote. Swan confirmed the city will likely turn to the community again for input on future playground projects.

Anna Collete and Natalie Fordyce of BCP commended the city for shelving its previously proposed “like for like” playground retrofit at Lewis Park, wherein the old equipment would be replaced with a new but similar version following pressure from the group. BCP also lobbied the city to bolster its playground budget, retrofit playgrounds to appeal to older and younger users, and draft a playground improvement plan. The city responded with a park improvement plan.

“The park improvement plan basically will be looking at all the park facilities that we have in the city and developing a plan of how can we improve those,” Swan said Wednesday. “It can be a 10-, 15-, 20-year plan because as we know playgrounds are very expensive and with a limited budget and limited resources, we have to look at more than just playgrounds.”

Swan hopes to bring the updated plan before the Claremont City Council by November for a vote.