Palm Springs city officials unveil brand new Demuth Park playground
The Palm Springs City Council held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the brand new playground at Demuth Park. It's the first upgrade the playground has had in nearly three decades.
Jeffrey Bernstein, the Mayor of Palm Springs, says this project has been in the works for years.
"This has been a long time coming," said Bernstein. "Our parks were quite old, and this is actually one of the most amazing parks we have."
This time, the City Council, along with the Palm Springs Parks and Recreation Commission want to make sure the playground serves generations to come.
"It has full shade structures, so that 218 kids can be under the shade, which is so important out here," said Bernstein. "We have a whole section called the 'Miracle Museum' for two to five year olds too. And we've also been planning a new pickleball court and upgraded the dog parks.
The new playground was designed with inclusivity in mind. It has specialized equipment so that kids of all ages and abilities can have fun safely. Interactive walls and ADA compliant swings are just a few examples added to the park to accommodate people with disabilities.
"We have kids who have mobility issues or other types of disabilities," said the Mayor. "Neurodiversity is something that we're seeing more as a challenge for a lot of kids, so to have a place for them to come and play is so important, especially if we want to be an inclusive city."
City Council members say residents have been asking them about a major problem around the entire Coachella Valley: a lack of recreation spaces for entire families and young kids. To solve that issue, council members like Grace Elena Garner, and Christy Holstege have committed to addressing and filling that need.
"Some of our playgrounds hadn't been updated in 20 or 30 years," said Holstege. "So parents were reaching out to me about how important it was to make these investments for our kids and families." Mayor Bernstein agreed.
"We often see ourselves as a tourist community, but we do have a lot of young kids that live in our city and throughout the valley," said Bernstein. "A lot of tourists come here with children, whether they're just visiting with family or whether they're in a vacation rental. And so having things for the kids to do is really important. We want to see kids and entire families outside in the fresh air, playing around, off the screens, and really engaging with each other."
The mayor says this playground upgrade is just the beginning.
"We have five playgrounds that are opened or are in the works," said Bernstein. "We have new pickleball courts coming. We've started with turf conversion, we've improved our swim center. We've done recreation field lighting."
"Palm Springs and Coachella Valley kids deserve amazing playgrounds and so much more" said Holstege. "So we are making those investments. Generations of people are now staying here to raise their families are getting more involved. Involved in our processes and asking for more projects like these."
In addition to the new playground, the Palm Springs Parks and Recreation Commission previewed its 'Master Plan Draft' on Monday night. The plan is a blueprint for several projects and proposals planned for the city and the commission wants your feedback.
To submit your ideas click here.
