Stratton, a key host for displaced students as five of seven elementary schools were renovated or rebuilt, won't be revamped anytime soon. But while the state has changed the rules about fixing schools, Arlington recreation is moving ahead with a major facelift for the playground at the Turkey Hill school. The $418,000 project is to begin in June. By September, families can expect to see:

• A reshaped playground, which will include a new climbing structure and a large slide;

• A renovated field -- which will be regraded and newly sodded;

• Improved drainage to head off the erosion that for years has worn away the slope between the field and the play area.
  What may stand out most for those visiting the playground this fall are these features:

1. A serpentine wall with places to sit between the blacktop and the field and playground, as well as
2. A $90,000 rubberized surface, similar to the kid use at McClennen Park and at Thompson School.

Joseph Connelly, town recreation director, said a group of parents set off the spark that ignited the push to upgrade the declining playground. The site has not been improved since about 1997, when it was dedicated to Mary Greeley, a teacher at Stratton who had died of cancer.

Asked whether the project is a "concession" to Stratton because of delay in building the school, Connelly said the playground project has been a Park & Recreation Commission capital program for a number of years and that the commission decided to push the project higher on its list.

He noted that the current playground gear is staying and that a new climbing structure and a large slide will be added.

Unchanged will be the hardtop, which includes three basketball hoops, as this area is not under Park & Rec control, Connelly said.

Of the project, David Harris wrote: "As a Stratton parent of two, I was dismayed at the deterioration the Greeley Park had suffered in recent years. Initial plans from the town had a rebuild in something like 2011.

"I am so excited about the new plans and only have the highest praise for the Park and Rec Commission's timely commitment to rectify the situation."

Shaping the project is Leonard Design, headed by Andrew Leonard, a former Stratton parent who has designed a number of Arlington recreation projects, including the original Greeley park.

To help correct drainage issues at the site will be a retaining wall, which rises from 18 inches high to a bit under 3 feet high. It will be made of flat rosetta stone.

Built-in seating extending from the wall is designed to produce something of an amphitheater effect, which might be used for an outdoor classroom, if Principal Alan Brown approves.

{mosimage} Leonard called rosetta stone "a fairly new product available in this area." He said it has no connection to the real Rosetta Stone, used to decipher the ancient Egyptian language, "other than a cool marketing name."

He said it is a "precast concrete wall product that looks a little like natural stone. What is unique is not so much the material, but that we are using a retaining wall to create seating within and around the play area." See what the stone product looks like here >>

Harris continued: "The commission, and particularly Joe Connelly's willingness to hear community input (as offered by the community group Friends of Greeley Park at Stratton, FOGPAS),  and designer's Andrew Leonard's excellent concept, incorporating necessary corrections in the critically flawed drainage and inspiring creative design, make for a unique park that the community will enjoy for years to come.

"Clearly, this is a welcome sight for a school that has done great service to the rest of of the town, hosting so many hundreds of children as their schools were rebuilt. I only hope the School Committee sees fit to fix the blacktop area, also in need of great repair."

Ccurrent co-chairs of FOGPAS are Beth Martin and Theresa Spangler.

The project is funded by $361,000 from the town's capital fund and $57,000 from Community Development Block Grants.

On April 8, the Park & Rec Commission voted to award the construction contract to Green Acres Landscaping Construction of Lakeville .

The three total base bids on the project were $327,800, Green Acres Landscaping; $348,190, Machado & Son Landscaping; and Cer-Trom Construction Corp., $351,722.

Construction is expected to begin in June as soon as school is out. Completion is projected in September by the time school opens.