Playground Equipment at Atwater Beach Moving Forward without Bluff Slide

A 25-foot bluff slide is out, and three pieces of playground equipment are in at .

On a vote of 6-1, village officials accepted a donation from Shorewood citizen’s group Friends of Atwater Beach, or FAB, for a roughly $60,000 project which includes playground equipment to be installed at the foot of Atwater Park's bluff.

Trustee Ellen Eckman cast the lone vote against, saying she would like to see how the bluff and beach react to one full summer of public use.

A portion of the donation comes from the Shorewood Foundation.

A subcommittee of the Parks Commission and FAB, at an earlier meeting, proposed : a slide hugging the bluff down to the beach; a double arch swing similar to a tire swing; an oval net structure for climbing; and a merry-go-round type structure.

The equipment is manufactured by Canada-based Elephant Play and would be installed by Play Focused Solutions, a local company.

However, some officials immediately became uneasy over the potential impact of the equipment, in particular the bluff slide, on the recently repaired bluff.

after torrential rainfall caused it to shift.

of the potential impact of a slide on the bluff above Atwater Beach.

Roger Miller of Miller Engineering, the firm hired to do engineering work during bluff stability work last summer, was hired to conduct the survey and advised the bluff slide be reduced from 25 feet to 8 feet.

Miller said while the slide wouldn’t impact the bluff, movement of the bluff would likely impact and damage the slide.

Ann McKaig, a representative of the subcommittee, said the subcommittee agreed to table the slide concept.

The idea behind the playground equipment was to not duplicate what is already available in the area. And, there's an 8-foot slide at Atwater Park, McKaig said.

"A shorter slide requires about as much construction and landscaping as a longer slide, and it didn't justify the amount of disruption," McKaig said.

Miller also recommended a vegetation management plan to help prevent surface erosion of the bluff and area surrounding the playground upgrades.

McKaig said she hasn't obtained a quote on the vegetation plan yet.

Trustee Don Ford expressed concern again about the impact of children branching out from the playground equipment to nearby vegetation and sand dunes, which trustees say are important to reducing erosion and maintaining the bluff's stability.

Miller responded by saying the creating of a defined path with the vegetation is effective and simple.

"If it's designed right, I don't think there will much of that complication," Miller said.

McKaig said the subcommittee and FAB are interested in adding shade elements on the boardwalk.

FAB plans on holding a beach party on June 23, with the new equipment installed.