BEAUFORT, S.C. (March 2, 2021) – A ribbon-cutting will be held at Washington Street Park at 3 p.m. Friday, March 5, to celebrate the park’s new playground equipment. The public is invited to attend, and social distancing will be observed.
“The playground at Washington Street Park needed to be updated, and we’re delighted that the children who live in this neighborhood will have fun structures to play on,” said Mayor Stephen Murray.
The new equipment includes a toddler structure that features slides, climbing steps, and a spinner at an approximate cost of $37,000. A grant from the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Development Fund is covering approximately $29,000 of that.
Also installed was a structure for older kids that includes slides and climbers. It is valued at approximately $36,000, and was won by Downtown Operations Director Linda Roper in a raffle held at the South Carolina Recreation & Parks Association Joint Conference in September 2019. Some existing playground equipment will remain at the park.
Washington Street Park, in the Northwest Quadrant neighborhood, is known for its community gatherings, including free Friday night suppers offered by local churches, police Night Out events, and many other celebrations. It was developed in the 1940s as the Beaufort County Negro Recreational Center by African-American leaders – the only park in the City at the time for black families and children. The City of Beaufort manages the park for the non-profit that owns the park. The non-profit is comprised of the descendants of the original families who founded the park.
Washington Street Park is being revitalized in phases. In 2019, restrooms were installed.
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