The World of Wonder Park has provided outdoor fun for children in Carthage for nearly 20 years. It's started to show its age. The board for the private park wants to give it a facelift.
Board Chair Natalie Cole says the park's wooden structures require a lot of maintenance and a lot of volunteers to provide it. There aren't enough people to do the work to keep up the park's appearance.
She says, “The checks are coming in. The community has spoken. They want this park to be her for a long time and as a board, we have to decide how we're going to go forward. Because we know and everybody else knows there is only so much life left in that park as it stands today.”
Cole says the board has concerns about accessibility for the disabled and safety in light of the advances in playground designs since the 1990s. She says since the the park is not subject to some of the requirements it would faces as a public entity. She says the board wants the park to be up-to-date when it comes to children's safety and accessibility
Cole says the wooden structures might be replaced by equipment that doesn't require annual sanding and application of a sealant. She says the grounds need regular upkeep including the application of new wood chips. That task could be eliminated if a rubber mulch were used.
Cole says the board plans a community meeting this summer to get more input.
She says, “We don't want to start this huge capital campaign and have somebody come back to us and say 'well why are we doing it this way?' You know, we want everybody involved from the very beginning.”