Community Corner

Animosity Arises Against Friendship Heights Playground Plans

Not everyone is on-board with the playground plans.

The Village of Friendship Heights is planning a new playground, but not everyone is friendly to the idea, news outlets reported this week.

The village council would like to build a playground at Page Park to accommodate children living in the village, which only recently has become a place to which young families with children are moving. But, early mock-up drawings of the playground stunned many residents of the village, who thought the playground depicted in the drawings was too tall, tacky and garish. And, many worried that a mature beach tree would have to be removed to build the playground, ABC 7 reported.

A petition with more than 80 signatures opposing the playground, which will be designed by Grace Fielder of G.E. Fielder and Associates, has been submitted to the village council, The Gazette reported.

But, the drawings are not final, Village Manager Julian Mansfield told Patch. 

"Based on feedback received from residents, our designer is revising the original plans for the proposed playgrounds," Mansfield said in an email to village residents. 

A community forum on proposed playgrounds for Page Park and Willoughby Park (another park in Friendship Heights) is set for Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m., during the village council meeting at the Friendship Heights Village Center (4433 S. Park Ave., Chevy Chase).

The revised plans will be on display at the village center and on the village's website before the Feb. 18 meeting, Mansfield wrote.

>>>Read more on the websites of ABC 7 and The Gazette.


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