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Mary Tracey FROM PAGE 1C
<br /> 4,of
<br /> ( ` gets up after Pay-to-play OPENING THE Central Park
<br /> ' -,:. N sliding down The new indoor park 7--1
<br /> �,,, one of the DOORS in Woodbury,linked to WASH. t
<br /> (continued) COUNTY!
<br /> chutes in the a new Washington J
<br /> Eagles Nest The Central Park complex County Library,will C'`MI" play area in 1
<br /> : classes; the complex is also begins opening its doors open Sept.23
<br /> New linked to the adjacent YMCA this week.School District " ,�I
<br /> s e, ' ,k'T Brighton. on the east and senior housing 833 Early Childhood Fami- Qi 06#7R "<} '
<br /> v to the south. will . i i; I
<br /> u Woodbury is While officials stress that ly Education will hold any P
<br /> ( considering a Woodbury will never have a open house Tuesday,with i:. P.reekak ,
<br /> 7: j similar classes starting Sept.23. '4f
<br /> .i'�, playground, traditional "Main Street" kind The library is slated to ' ie
<br /> of downtown,the new center is Li
<br /> ° where open the third week in si
<br /> parents pay designed to function as a corn- October,with an official s ■munity gathering place—and
<br /> ie u
<br /> $4.50 for grand opening for the ,� s yH
<br /> their children the kids' area could be a big entire complex the first ' = h } Central
<br /> CRAIG BORCK,PIONEER PRESS to play. Originally slated to cost week in November. n :`:s -t park Park l E.
<br /> about$250,000,the kids'facility s a i; z s lake'Ik
<br /> Pay-to-play areas could end up roughly double PAP' j yi rie w 411
<br /> that amount if fancier plans when they went to the polls for .q ' - * ' R 4,.
<br /> are realized. The new plans the PIONEER PRESS
<br /> p primary elections, and the
<br /> call for "theming" — echoing building will open its doors lit-
<br /> inspire suburbs the St.Croix River Valley motif tie by little in the coming although the park seeks to
<br /> in the indoor park,with a look- weeks and months. recreate the feel of a St. Croix
<br /> out tower, a climbing wall This week,library adminis- river valley woodland, the
<br /> made of artificial rock and arti- tration staff will start moving landscaping company,
<br /> New Brighton was ahead of trend ficial trees,and ambient sound in; School District 833 Early McCaren Designs of St. Paul,
<br /> effects. Childhood Family Education had to truck in subtropical
<br /> The aim is to take it beyond will hold an open house Tues- plants from Florida that mimic
<br /> BY JUDY ARGINTEANU the level of a"typical fast-food" day,with classes starting Sept. native species to accommodate
<br /> Pioneer Press play structure, said Parks and 23.The library is slated to open the climate—controlled interior,
<br /> Recreation director Bob Klatt, the third week in October,with where the temperature never
<br /> Even on a perfect fall morning,Beth Jansen was and make it into something an official grand opening for falls below about 65 degrees.
<br /> happy to pay$4.50 so her two young children could that will attract people from the entire complex the first Building an indoor park
<br /> play at a public indoor park in New Brighton. the region as a whole. week in November. hospitable to Minnesota-grown
<br /> The 33-year-old mom from Stacy meets friends It's an emerging trend From the time it was a mere plants would have been very
<br /> at least once a month at the Eagles Nest play area, around the metro area,accord- gleam in the City Council's eye expensive,said McCaren presi-
<br /> v.. .e her 9-month-old daughter and 3-year-old son ing to Lisa Uhler, community to its near-completion now,the dent McRae Anderson, and
<br /> , to run through the tunnels,ball pits and two- center manager at the New project has taken nearly eight would have made the park a
<br /> lever climbing maze. Brighton facility,who points to years; construction began in chilly spot for a leisurely con-
<br /> "There's everything hers,it's contained,there's similar facilities in Maple April of last year. versation on a park bench
<br /> no bugs, and you don't have to worry about bad Grove and Prior Lake.And it's The project's original budg- A welcoming zone — both
<br /> weather,"she said. popular: In 1995 when it et, set in 1999, was around $6 for the park and the play area
<br /> Officials in Woodbury hope for a similar reaction opened, New Brighton served million,then revised to$10 mil- — is clearly what Woodbury
<br /> in their neck of the woods, as they consider an 30,282 youths;in 2001,the num- lion. Budget concerns prompt- officials are seeking.When the
<br /> ambitious new playground that will be part of the ber had more than doubled to ed a few design changes, play area is done,the city proj-
<br /> new Central Park complex, which begins opening 65,747,she said. including substituting a flat ects an average 150 people a day
<br /> its doors this week. "It's mostly word of mouth," roof with skylights for the orig- will pay the daily admission fee;
<br /> The complex includes the play area — which Uhler said, noting that the final plan of a glassed-in arched that's in addition to people who
<br /> won't open until December—a 16,000-square-foot facility needs to do little mar- roof; the park size was also will buy coupon books, large
<br /> park and the 28,000-square-foot Washington County keting."It sells itself." reduced. The park also groups, or those who rent for
<br /> Library plus administration space,meeting rooms, Klatt said Woodbury will includes a 200-seat amphithe- birthday party packages.
<br /> and space for Early Childhood Family Education pay for the proposed upgrade ater at its eastern edge. Parents at the Eagles Nest
<br /> from admission and rental fees Woodbury's total costs for seem to bear out Woodbury's
<br /> ;;) l PAY-TO-PLAY,SC 9 ill ci 'Z for the play area(which is sep- its share of the project came in optimistic expectations. Kris
<br /> Y(04 Per 1f ess arate from the park).Proposed around $8 million: Park con- Marthaler, 33, made the half-
<br /> daily admission fees for the struction came to about $5.5 hour trip from St.Michael with
<br /> play area have been tentatively million, other costs including her 2-year-old to meet Jansen
<br /> set at$4.50 for I-year-olds and land acquisition and architec- and other friends.The space is
<br /> up, with discount coupon tural fees added another $2 bigger and better than the
<br /> books and lower evening rates million and the city spent an playlands at fast-food restau-
<br /> also available. additional $1 million to build rants,said Marthaler.
<br /> Klatt cautions that the final the ECFE space. 'After 45 minutes, my kids
<br /> figures for the new play area For greenery-starved Min- are done" at a fast-food place,
<br /> equipment have yet to be nego- nesotans in the winter months, she said,"but my kids don't get
<br /> tiated with the vendor,and the the indoor park offers 60 trees, bored here.My daughter loves
<br /> City Council will not make its from 10 feet to 32 feet tall,with it"
<br /> final decision until its Sept 25 more than 1,400 smaller plants.
<br /> meeting. A stream with a 16-foot water- Judy Arginteanu can be reached
<br /> Voters got a glimpse of the fall runs through the park, atjarginteanu @pioneerpress.com
<br /> new building this past week with a small bridge.Ironically, or 1651)228-5509.
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