Isa Cruz

This winter, the College and the Town of Brunswick completed the installation of the new Longfellow Playground on campus. While parts of the project remain unfinished due to equipment delivery delays, the playground unofficially opened to the public on December 2 with the removal of the construction security fencing, and construction will resume this spring.

On December 4, the College and the town released a joint statement announcing the playground was open for public use.

“Given the amount of interest in the new playground, Bowdoin College and the Town of Brunswick agreed that opening the playground in advance of finishing the landscaping would not negatively impact the project,” the College and the town wrote in the statement.

According to Government Relations and Land Use Specialist Catherine Ferdinand, the project’s landscaping must be paused until the spring as the cold temperatures are not conducive to planting. Along with planting vegetable and tree beds, other additions to the playground area this spring will include completed striping of the basketball courts and four-square grids, improved signage and the installation of benches and picnic tables. The playground might need to briefly close again in the spring to accommodate equipment operation.

“We knew that people were anxious to get in. It’s too tempting to just have these lovely new structures up. And I ran into a couple little kids who had their faces plastered against the fence just waiting,… so that decision was made in conjunction with the town,” Ferdinand said.

The town and the College are planning a grand opening celebration this spring, once construction is finished, to mark the next era in the Longfellow Playground’s long history. The original 40-year-old playground was a community-built project designed by parent volunteers and the designers of the new playground strove to honor this history by conducting a community survey on the redesign. The new playground will also comply with current safety and accessibility guidelines, which the original did not.

Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration & Treasurer Matt Orlando, who led the project along with Ferdinand, explained that a committee worked to incorporate community feedback into the design process. This committee included town officials, Portland-based landscape designer Sashie Misner and several other Bowdoin faculty and staff including Ferdinand, head coach of women’s soccer Brianne Smithson, Executive Director of the Children’s Center Martha Eshoo, Director of Capital Renewal Ben Jamo and Assistant Manager of Grounds and Landscaping Jeremy Tardif.

“Among the top priorities set by the committee was to offer spaces appropriate for a wider age range of users, use sustainable materials, meet current safety codes and to lean into universal design,” Orlando wrote in an email to the Orient.

One of the most popular elements of the original design mentioned in survey responses was its wooden material, and the new playground retains this through the use of Robinia, a durable, rot-and-climate-resistant wood.

“While a different material entirely, the wooden structures are in keeping with the original motif, and we generally kept the same footprint to ensure this remained a well-shaded area that blends in with the natural surroundings, like its predecessor,” Orlando wrote.

The College, which owns the land the playground is on, invested approximately $450,000 into the renovation project, which is currently tracking to be on budget, according to Ferdinand. The town retains ownership of the equipment and is responsible for playground inspection and maintenance. The College will lease the land to the town for $250 per year, a decrease compared to the previous rent of $1,200.

Director of the Brunswick Parks and Recreation Department Tom Farrell expressed that the collaboration between the town and the College was key to the success of the remodeling project.

“The relationship between the town and the College relative to the project was a very positive one and Bowdoin’s willingness to keep the site available to the community as a children’s playground was both very thoughtful and generous,” Farrell wrote in an email to the Orient.

To Ferdinand, whose children grew up in the area and attended the former Longfellow Elementary School located where the Edwards Center for Art and Dance is now, the playground’s renovation and reopening is meaningful both personally and professionally.

“I live close by, and so I spent a lot of time standing on that playground, and I know how much it was loved and used by people at that time,” she said. “We’re hoping that several more generations get to have the same kind of fun that the past generations have had.… I think it really is a win-win for the town and the community.”