With new equipment, handicapped sidewalks and landscaping, Jack Bobbs Park in Mt. Pleasant has taken on a new look -- one that features safety and accessibility.
After the borough received a $40,000 Community Development Block Grant for the Third Ward area of town, borough officials set their sights on making improvements to the park that was named in honor of Sgt. John "Jack" Bobb who lived in that area.
Bobb died in 1950 of starvation while in a Korean War prison camp.
Bobb was the only soldier from Mt. Pleasant who died in that conflict.
"It's a nice park, a nice area, and we are pleased with the improvements," Borough Manager Jeff Landy said. "All we now have left to do is paint the fencing and finish the parking pad."
The park was recently given the distinction of being a "Young Lungs at Play" area, which means that there is no smoking permitted.
"A lot of parks across the commonwealth now have smoke-free parks," Mt. Pleasant Mayor Gerald Lucia said. "It provides a good message for the kids, and if you don't want young people to be further exposed to smoking, then don't have it in your parks."
Landy added that the borough passed the motion to make Jack Bobbs smoke free as a test. The borough is considering making its other parks smoke-free, as well.
"Other communities have smoke-free parks, and we thought we'd take one park and use it as a test," Landy said. "We'll see what people think about it and what people have to say."
The park is used by area residents and also by local day cares, such as Frock Childcare, which brings its children to the playground area to exercise.
"Frock sent us a nice 'thank you' note about the park," Landy said.
Used almost on a daily basis by the facility, Frock employees bring children of all ages to the park. They are thrilled with the improvement and new equipment, they said.
"I think that it is wonderful that the town did this," Frock Childcare assistant group supervisor Karin Wagner, adding that the children just recently began to visit the playground again. "This was all totally unexpected. It's beautiful, and it's perfect for toddler-aged children."
The park is open, and the remaining improvements will continue throughout the summer.
"Jack Bobbs is the start for us to work on the parks here in the borough," Lucia said. "We put in all state-of-the-art equipment there, and we've been focusing on making all of our parks nice areas that families will want to go."
