The Township of Springfield was awarded a $40,000 grant from the Union County Kids Recreation Trust Fund and a $4,000 grant from Greening Union County last Thursday night, October 21, 2021, at a virtual meeting of the Union County Board of County Commissioners. Mayor Chris Weber commented, “A huge thank you to Union County, as well as Director of Recreation Adam Lieb and Supervisor of Public Works Robert Boettcher for being great advocates for our Township. We are truly appreciative to receive these grants. This money goes a long way toward the enhancement and beautification of our Township."
The Department of Public Works will use its $4,000 grant award to plant trees throughout Springfield. “Springfield Public Works would like to thank the County Commissioners for the generous grant and their continuous support. The annual grant provides for replacement trees throughout the town, keeping Springfield Green," said Boettcher.
The Township is matching the Kids Recreation Trust Fund grant to finance the installation of modern and interactive playground equipment at Irwin Park. The Springfield Recreation Department is planning to remove outdated playground equipment and install highly interactive elements in a section whose borders were already expanded within the past year. A new 2-5 year-old play structure will feature accessible ground-play elements such as a rain crescent panel and a short rope wall. Other highlights include a jet panel, luge slide, 3-in-a-row play panel, and an enclosed shaker square roof for shade from the sun. A new larger 5-12 year-old play structure will incorporate more ground-play and elevated-play elements like an arch bridge, atom climber, contour and viper slides, hypno activity panel, gear panel, rain crescent panel, odyssey and lateral climbing posts, power peak climber, and a shaded roof. According to Lieb, “We’re really excited to continue the playground improvements that we’ve been making every year thanks to this grant. Irwin Park is one of Springfield's largest and most frequented parks. We're very confident that the neighborhood families will enjoy the new equipment for many years to come.”
Matching grants from the Kids Recreation Trust Fund are distributed to municipalities across Union County that are looking to upgrade or build recreational facilities for children and families. Funds from the Greening Union County grant award help the Township offset the cost of planting trees throughout Springfield. Since its inception in 2004, the Kids Recreation Trust Fund has provided Union County communities with close to $20 million in funding.
