Some old playground equipment removed from a park in Newton will be refurbished and put back to use in a low-income neighborhood of Des Moines. Nathan Unsworth, Newton’s administrative parks superintendent, says the public works director in the Des Moines suburb of Windsor Heights noticed the need for the playground. “He was riding his bike by this apartment complex and found the kids were playing on mattresses out of the dumpster,” Unsworth said. “They were having a good time with them, but he realized the reason they were playing on the mattresses is there was no playground equipment in the vicinity of their apartment complex to enjoy.”
The new playground equipment in Newton’s Maytag Park was installed last week. The old play equipment was donated to the nonprofit organization Replay Parks Foundation. “Hopefully, our (old) playground equipment will be put to good use by these kids and allow them to have a little better life over there in Des Moines,” Unsworth said. The two new large play structures in Newton — which include climbing walls, swings, and other pieces — cost the city $92,000.
reporting by Randy Van, KCOB, Newton