Wrangell is overhauling its outdoor play spaces, pivoting from three aging sites to two modern, well-maintained sites. 

The shift comes as decades of Southeast Alaska weather and deferred maintenance have taken a toll on recreational facilities. Parks, Recreation and Grounds Director Lucy Robinson explained that the department is dismantling outdated structures — starting with the full removal of City Park’s playground — while stripping back unsafe components at the Kyle Angerman Playground and Shoemaker Park. 

The overall strategy focuses resources on two sites rather than spreading maintenance dollars too thin.

The former playground space at City Park will be transformed into a memorial for veterans featuring the Freedom Rock, while future play upgrades will target Angerman and Shoemaker Park.

At Angerman, plans call for fresh play equipment, updated seating, new fencing and a restored basketball court.

Meanwhile, Shoemaker’s playground will be relocated, taking advantage of a retired tennis court base to install modern safety surfacing and accessible equipment farther away from Zimovia Highway traffic.

Robinson said in a July 27 interview that she is hopeful there will be at least one new playground by summer 2027.

During a July 28 assembly work session, she presented rough cost estimates for the proposed work at Angerman. Outfitting the park with new play equipment, safety turf, a resurfaced basketball court, upgraded backboards, bear-resistant trash cans and vinyl-coated chain-link fencing could run between $200,000 and $280,000 — a figure that excludes shipping, installation, equipment removal and site landscaping.

Paying for these ambitious upgrades remains a major hurdle. The department’s operating budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 sits at just over $732,000, with $525,000 coming from general tax dollars and only a tiny slice covered by user fees and grants. The operating budget does not pay for upgrades and new playground equipment.

“Funding is always the big question,” Robinson said in an interview. “It is difficult with a small budget and when there are deferred maintenance projects waiting to be addressed.”

Borough Manager Mason Villarma at the assembly meeting outlined several potential funding streams to pay for park upgrades, including $63,000 in a one-time municipal insurance pool payout earmarked by the assembly last year, grassroots donations collected by Parks and Recreation, future fundraising through a planned nonprofit, and a potential allocation from a $424,000 draw on the Wrangell Permanent Fund.

Villarma said the assembly will hold another work session before any funds are appropriated.

To help boost fundraising, the assembly voted unanimously June 23 to dissolve the Parks and Recreation Department’s advisory board, which Robinson acknowledged wasn’t “necessarily action oriented.” The decision clears the path for a nonprofit tentatively named Friends of Wrangell Parks and Recreation to aggressively pursue grants and donations. 

“We’re currently waiting to get confirmation of some potential funding,” Robinson said.

Assembly members on July 28 expressed strong support for moving forward with improving playgrounds, though with a few logistical caveats. Assembly Member Bob Dalrymple gave full backing to rehabbing the Angerman Playground, while emphasizing that snow storage must end at the site.

“The only thing I have strong feelings about” is to no longer use the playground areas as a snow dump, Dalrymple said. “It is just not appropriate to have that dual use.”

Villarma said he and the public works director would explore alternative snow storage locations.

Despite the logistical hurdles and financial costs, borough leadership remains eager to push ahead.

“I would encourage you to move forward,” Mayor Patty Gilbert said of the effort.

Robinson acknowledged the emotional weight of dismantling older play spaces but expressed confidence in the timeline.

“It is a difficult process and no one wants to have to make those decisions,” she said. “This has been on the horizon for a while. But I’m hopeful Wrangell will see a new playground at Angerman’s within a year and a half.”