STERLING — The students at Houghton Elementary School are eagerly awaiting the completion of the new playground, a project spearheaded by longtime school parent Stacia Hemphill.
Hemphill has lived in Sterling for close to 10 years, and all three of her sons have been Houghton students, including one who is currently attending. She took over the playground project from another mother who started the process in 2018 but was unable to see it through, and her tenacity is finally paying off.
Securing town funding for the project was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but an article placed on the June 2021 annual town meeting warrant was passed, providing $130,000 for the much-needed replacement of the playground, which was over two decades old. American Rescue Plan Act funding of up to $100,000 through an economic development bill being signed by the governor will offset the balance of the $216,000 total cost of the playground.
The project has certainly been a collaborative effort. Besides Hemphill, who worked with town boards and officials and got the article on the 2021 town warrant to secure funding, Houghton physical education teacher Mike Walsh and Principal Tony Cipro met with the vendor to select age-appropriate activities, structure design, colors, and more once they were given a budget.
The primarily blue and red ADA accessible playground includes slides, a seated merry-go-round, climbing elements and more. Pouring of the surface took place recently, and Town Administrator Bill Caldwell arranged for fence installation.
Cipro said the grade K through 4 students are looking forward to being able to enjoy the playground in the near future and that they “are getting more excited each day.”
Hemphill echoed his sentiments, saying she is glad her youngest son will be able to enjoy it for a couple of years before moving up to middle school.
“I am very excited to hear that the playground was able to be installed this fall and that the students will hopefully soon be playing on the structure,” she said. “(It) has been a long time coming.”
