Board approves $70,207 in bids for new equipment

TRYON — A new playground at Harmon Field should become a reality before the end of the year.

The Harmon Field Board of Supervisors had a special meeting Monday to approve two bids, totaling $70,207.

One bid is for $64,791 from PlayNation of WNC, out of Asheville. The PlayNation equipment will include an ages 2 to 12 playground, ages 5 to 12 playground, benches, swings, and a dinosaur and a crocodile spring rider.

Another bid from Churchich Recreation & Design, out of Bluffton, South Carolina, is for an Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant merry-go-round.

Harmon Field Board of Supervisor Vice Chair Lindy Buss said two companies were needed in order to get the ADA-compliant merry-go-round.

Harmon Field agreed to pay $50,000 for the new playground, and the Friends of Harmon Field is paying $20,000, donated for the playground from the Dallara Project. Friends of Harmon Field is also contributing the extra $214 for the equipment.

Harmon Field and Town of Tryon employees will take out the current playground, but the playground will remain until the new equipment is close to being delivered.

Buss said the company indicated on Tuesday that delivery of the equipment will take 8 to 9 weeks, and the installation will take two days.

“My goal is to have it in before Christmas,” Buss said. “Demolition will be done by the town and Harmon Field, but not until the week before they put in the new playground.”

There was some discussion previously about the playground needing to be moved to a different location at Harmon Field because of a septic tank, but the new playground can be located in the same area as the current one.

Friends of Harmon Field began two years ago because a group of parents saw the need, with private fundraising beginning. The group has raised approximately $16,000, plus the $20,000 from the Dallara Project, since that time, mostly with area children having lemonade stands.

Fans of Harmon Field is using the rest of its fundraising to maintain the new playground, including providing new mulch annually and needed pressure washing.

“It was very much a community effort,” Buss said. “We had parents helping, and people are still donating money.”