Village Council hears update on playground project

JEFFERSON – Jefferson Village Council and other administration heard updates on the inclusive playground that is coming to the former Memorial Field during the council meeting on Monday, April 6.
Ashtabula County Civic Development Executive Director Amanda Tirotta and Board member Brian Diehl provided the update.
“With some new faces and turnover and administrative turnover, we’d thought maybe it’d be a good idea to reintroduce ourselves, [give] a little bit of history on the playground project from CDC’s perspective, and then give an update on the playhouse construction and the portion that that we’re working on,” Diehl said.
He gave some background on the project.
Diehl and his wife Jenn were taking a walk in town and wound up at Memorial Field.
When he asked what they should do with site, Jenn suggested doing something similar to Preston’s H.O.P.E., the largest fully accessible playground park in northeast Ohio. It is located in Beachwood.
“We used to drive up there with our kids because it was so cool, and they loved it so much,” Diehl said.
But where do they get the money?
Diehl explained he sits on the CDC Board.
“If you don’t know about CDC, they do quality-of-life projects, capital investment to quality-of-life projects in Ashtabula County,” Diehl said.
He talked with Tirotta, who thought the playground was a great idea.
“We’re trying to refocus our efforts into some bigger things again, through this five-year campaign,” Diehl said.
The administrator at the time, Police Chief Chris Mackensen, agreed it was a good idea for Jefferson.
“At that point, we talked to the CDC board, and we were able to, out of a $1.5 million campaign this time, take a full third of that, commit to the Village of Jefferson to to build this playground, which is going to be transformational for the community, I hope,” Diehl said.
The overall project is an all-inclusive playground project for the former Memorial Field, with $650,000 in funding for phase 1 of a multi-phase and multi-year project being supported by grants from the CDC and the Ashtabula County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
Funding partly includes a $500,000 grant from the CDC, along with an additional $150,000 grant from the Ashtabula County Board of Developmental Disabilities. The Ashtabula County commissioners have given $150,000 to use toward the splash-pad portion.
The CDC funding is part of the CDC’s Campaign 2025. The CDC focuses on funding quality-of-life projects that prioritize family, children and the community as a whole.
The playground will feature accessible playground equipment, walking paths and a miniature play village that is accessible for all children, including children with disabilities. The project will include the construction of new accessible restrooms, parking areas and a planned splash pad for a future phase.
“We have Spence Contracting that is working on the playhouses,” Diehl said. “They have six of the eight playhouses done.”
Tirotta said they have allocated $115,000 for the playhouses.
“Every playhouse is unique,” Tirotta said. “It really does look like a mini version of that business or organization that’s so unique to Ashtabula County. We have a farmhouse, we have Andover Bank, we have several businesses representing our community, which is really cool…It’s going to make it unique and make it last for ages and ages to come.”
Tirotta said Jefferson was the perfect spot for the project.
“We’re so happy to collaborate, but our donors thought Jefferson was the perfect spot, too, because we had to fundraise that money,” Tirotta said. “We’re so happy that this initiative is going to create a safe, welcoming, inclusive space right here in your community for families. We’re just really excited about the progress.”
She said they want to keep moving forward and get ready for those cement pads so they can start putting those playhouses down.
Tirotta said the campaign is a five-year timeline, from 2025 to 2030.
“We just want to get working on it so that we can report back to our donors, too, given the size and complexity of the project,” Tirotta said.
From the Village’s end, Mayor Steve Sekanina said they’ve begun work down there with renovating the restrooms.
“It’s coming along very nicely,” Sekanina said. “We’re going to be doing site work next to prepare the site and we’re currently in the process of obtaining donations from businesses, residents. We’ve had a lot of feedback from the community, people who want to contribute both big and small. So it’s clearly going to be a great collaboration of people from not just Jefferson but throughout the whole county. So, we’re excited.”
As a former councilperson and still a member of the community, Diehl said it’s an exciting thing to see.
“Sometimes we don’t get big things here in town. And I know CDC has never really…done a project in Jefferson,” Diehl said.