A celebratory groundbreaking on Wednesday, November 17 marked the official start of two major and long-awaited Highland Park projects: the new Super Playground and the restoration of the nearby historic pedestrian tunnel. Rosanne Kolbe and Marsha Levine, two Highland Park moms who led the effort to originally build the playground in 1991, were on hand to mark this special occasion. Their efforts to raise funds and organize community members to build the playground helped spark a citywide program to rehabilitate all of its playgrounds. Thirty years later, the rebuild of the Highland Park Super Playground marks the beginning of another citywide effort to rehab and invest in new playgrounds with a new focus on equity.  

Also on hand for the groundbreaking were Mayor Bill Peduto; Public Works Acting Director Chris Hornstein; Senior Project Landscape Architect Andrea Ketzel; and HPCC Super Playground Committee Members Sabrina Culyba, Mac Lynch, and Monica Watt (committee member Betsy Rogerson was unable to attend). Thank you to the Public Works and HPCC committee members for their hard work engaging the community and keeping this important project on track!

Please note that this event will not mark the closure of the playground. It will remain open through early 2022, until construction is ready to begin, to minimize the downtime of the popular park amenity. The estimated reopen date is Memorial Day, 2022. The HPCC plans to hold a community celebration at the playground before it closes for construction. Look for more information about the event in early 2022.  Continue to watch for project updates on the city’s website.