Playgrounds don’t show up in a community’s economic statistics like jobs, incomes, housing prices, new construction and school enrollment. But playgrounds can help make a town more appealing to families and new residents. That makes them a good investment.

Swings and slides and seesaws and all the other play equipment anchored in the ground can help keep young families anchored in town.

Wrangell is riding its own downward slide in population, particularly younger people. The town is aging, same as its playgrounds. A swing toward a younger generation would be healthy for the community’s economy, filling vacant jobs and filling classrooms.

“You can only lose so many younger people,” said Assembly Member Jim DeBord, who frequently advocates for improving the town’s playgrounds. “The bigger issue is doing something for the younger generation.”

Wrangell’s two borough-owned playgrounds have seen better days — long ago. The equipment is old, in need of repair and serious updating. It’s not out of purposeful neglect, just a lack of money.

Same as with most everything in town, money is the issue. No one wants to raise Wrangell’s sales or property taxes, so the answer often is to raise donations.

There are a lot of worthy causes in town, yet there is a limit as to how much organizations can raise in a community of 2,000 people. That makes any outside donations especially helpful. It’s called “new money,” which is different than simply recirculating “old money” already in town.

The assembly recently designated some new money for future playground projects. The borough received $63,940 as its share of a cash-out when two municipal self-insurance pools merged and returned surplus funds to members. Though not enough to build a playground, it’s a financial recognition that Wrangell needs to do something about its slides and swings and seesaws for children.

Thinking of that $63,940 as a big seed of new money, residents and businesses and community nonprofits could water and nurture the planting to grow it even larger.

The Parks and Recreation Department has established the Playground Revitalization Sponsorship Initiative, a fundraising drive to accept donations. The department recently received its first design proposal from a playground consultant and will be talking with the community to determine what will work best in Wrangell.

To help, people can go to the Parks and Rec website wrangellak.myrec.com, click on Register at the top left, click on Programs, then click on Helping Our Parks and scroll down to read about the Playground Revitalization Initiative.

Or, for playground supporters who like paper and don’t mind postage, they can send a check to the initiative at Parks and Recreation, Box 531, Wrangell 99929.

It’s an important investment in Wrangell’s economy and quality of life.