Local children have a new place to play after one of Cullman’s neighborhood parks recently underwent a renovation to add new playground equipment. 

Culpepper Park’s new playground officially opened Friday afternoon, with a ribbon cutting ceremony featuring members of the Cullman Parks and Recreation Department, Parks and Recreation Board and the Cullman City Council and a cook out for members of the community. 

The $70,000 upgrade to the park installed new playground equipment that includes a new swing set, a see saw, a rideable ant springer and a jungle explorer dome.

Parks and Recreation Director Nathan Anderson said the Parks and Recreation Department began a study a couple years ago to assess some of the needs at the city’s smaller parks, and the Culpepper Park playground was high on the list of needed upgrades. 

Parks and Rec looked for funding opportunities for the upgrades, and the Cullman City Council was able to make room in its budget for new playgrounds at Culpepper and Carrol Acres Parks, he said. 

“We really appreciate this, and this would not be possible without them,” he said.

Anderson said the Parks and Recreation Department isn’t stopping with just upgrading Culpepper Park, as a new playground will soon open in Carrol Acres likely at the end of March, and Ingle Park’s new all-needs playground is set for completion around the first of June.

The neighborhood parks mean a lot to the City Parks and Recreation Board, and the enthusiasm of the children present at the park on Friday shows that the community appreciates the work that the board is doing, Anderson said. 

“It’s great to see as many kids that we have here today laughing and playing,” he said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

 

Tyler Hanes can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 138.