By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Renovating Mary Moss playground “probably” will begin in April and be wrapped up in time to have the play area at the corner of John and Lytle streets ready for the summer, the town said Wednesday., Plans call for a “sprayground,” or water play area for children, new playground equipment and other features including trees and landscaping, municipal engineer Deanna Stockton said Wednesday., “It’s going to be great, I’m a 100 percent sure of that,” said municipal recreation director Ben Stentz by phone Wednesday., Last year, when the project came before the Princeton Council in June, the town indicated it had around $1.1 million — most of which came from a Mercer County grant — to pay for renovating the playground. The municipality still has to bid out the project and then hire a contractor., “We don’t have an estimate yet,” Councilwoman Jo S. Butler said Wednesday when asked about the price tag., Some demolition of the site started last week; the bulk of that work is expected next week, in what will take five days, Ms. Stockton said. The town has said, in a notice on the municipal website, that after demolition, snow fencing would go up around the property line until renovations start., The playground has a long history in that section of a town; built in the 1940s, it was where one generation of children after another came to swim in the wading pool. For long-time residents of the neighborhood, the playground held a sentimental value — and historical one as well., For Princeton’s black community, this was the only place they could come to swim. Originally called the John Street playground, it was renamed for Mary Moss, a woman who had lived in the community and was looked upon as a maternal figure by the rest of the neighborhood., To say goodbye, residents had a farewell party at the playground in August.
