Mercerdale Playground Renovation Project

You are invited to join us for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the culmination of this community-driven project and the re-opening of a beloved play space. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is also the kick-off to Summer Celebration festivities!

We hope to see you Saturday, July 9 at 11 AM!

All are welcome!

After months of delays due to supply chain issues, extended wet weather, and more, the Mercerdale Playground is ready for action. City crews officially opened the park to the public on June 27, 2022.

Islanders are welcome to utilize the playground starting opening day. City crews will be finishing several final touches over the next few weeks, but the playground is ready for action.

We hope you enjoy this new resource for the young Islanders in your lives.

So close!

Crews installed the poured in place playground surfacing on Thursday evening and worked on the train tracks through the weekend.

With this stint of dry weather, we’re anticipating the playground should open very soon!

Visit the photo gallery to see the latest progress.

The City is working with Northwest Playground to finish the Mercerdale Park playground replacement project. The installation of the playground surfacing has been challenging due to a very wet spring.

The Northwest Playground team is switching to a different binder that will allow them to install the rubberized surfacing even in slightly drizzly weather. Tuesday and Wednesday’s dry weather will allow the base layer to dry out so that the surface can go in on Thursday when we have a dry day forecasted.

The signature train tracks will be cut into the surface on Friday and installed on Saturday when it is expected to be dry again. Next week, the team will seam the play grass to the rubberized surface and clean up the site.

Last week, the surfacing crew installed play grass under the climbing structure at the playground. The grass mat was laid over the top of four inches of foam cushioning for safety. The crew is waiting to finish the poured-in-place rubber surfacing which continues to be delayed by unpredictable wet weather. The crew just needs four dry days to get the work done. That has been a challenge this very wet spring. We know that many kids and their parents are eager to have the fence come down! Not much longer and the playground will be open.

Update: Concrete pathways around the playground are being poured and setting!

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Due to the ongoing King County concrete strike, the City’s contractor has coordinated with an out of county concrete supplier to complete the concrete flatwork around the playground. The demand for this work is high, but crews have scheduled the concrete flatwork for April 19.

Playground experts are still watching for the perfect succession of dry, warm days and moderate temperatures at night (for curing purposes) to install the resilient rubber playground surfacing. While the weather has gotten close a few times this spring, installation experts felt the conditions were not quite right. Once the playground surfacing is in place, crews will then install the playground grass. Crews will need one week onsite after the resilient rubber surfacing is completed to finish.

Crews continue to prepare for the opening of the playground, including installing the park bench plaques that have just arrived!

Updated April 14, 2022

The play equipment is installed! The playground is close to completion but two final steps remain before the playground can re-open: (1) play surface installation and (2) concrete flatwork.

Installation of the resilient rubber surfacing (like Luther Burbank Park playground) needs warmer weather. While crews have been waiting on the weather to cooperate, the project also faces a possible delay with the ongoing concrete strike.

There are paths and bench pads that require large amounts of concrete. The strike has lasted for three months, longer than City staff expected. Unfortunately, the playground cannot reopen until this work is also completed.

In the meantime, the installation team will work to complete other details so that reopening can occur quickly once the strike is resolved.

Crews have been installing the new playground equipment! The structures were completed the first week of February. Check out the photos here.

The playground surfacing crew needs dry weather and 45-degree temperatures to install the resilient surfacing – it may take several weeks to get a window.

City staff are estimating completion in late February.

In mid-December, crews finished installing the train play sculpture and the rest of the playground structures are being installed!

Unfortunately, the holidays, snow, and cold weather shut down operations for the past two weeks.

Next steps: Crews have two more weeks of assembly to finish the play structures and the playground surfacing crew needs dry weather and 50-degree temperatures to install the resilient surfacing – it may take several weeks to get a window.

City staff are estimating completion in late February.