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A school playground built less than a decade ago is already in need of a half-million-dollar overhaul.
According to a Community Preservation Act (CPA) funding application recently presented to the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee by Sudbury’s combined facilities director, the playground surface at Josiah Haynes Elementary School is failing. SPS is now seeking $530,000 in CPA funds to completely replace the playground’s safety surfacing, overlay adjacent deteriorating pavement, and install a new shade structure.
Details of the application were outlined in a recent School Committee presentation. The report highlights severe degradation of the poured-in-place rubber safety surface, which was largely funded by CPA funds when built. The playground was built years before Combined Facilities Director Sandra Duran joined the Town of Sudbury, and the report speculates that inadequate drainage may have contributed to the failure. (Page 8)
“The 15% construction contingency is appropriate because demolition of the severely degraded existing poured-in-place safety surfacing may reveal concealed subgrade deterioration, inadequate drainage, or other subsurface conditions that will need to be addressed before installation of the new surface.”
Haynes is not the first recently-constructed playground installation that Duran has inherited and fixed. In 2024 the entire Loring Elementary School playground surface had to be replaced. That work was done under warranty.
The Project Details
According to Duran, the Haynes playground is no longer compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board (MAAB). The rubber surface is undulating, features numerous holes and patches, and its surface granules are failing to adhere.
Furthermore, grass and weeds are pushing through cracks in the adjacent asphalt, creating tripping hazards and preventing safe wheelchair access.
“The failed poured-in-place safety surface and deteriorated pavement create uneven conditions, potential tripping hazards, and barriers for students and community members with disabilities,” the CPC application states. Continued temporary repairs are no longer considered a viable long-term solution.
The estimated $530,269.19 project budget outlines a comprehensive rehabilitation effort:
- $230,539 to completely remove and replace 9,245 square feet of the poured-in-place rubber surface.
- $107,700 for a new asphalt overlay on the adjacent area.
- $50,000 for site work and drainage improvements, as facilities staff suspect underlying subgrade or drainage issues may have contributed to the premature failure of the current surface.
- $50,000 for a new permanent shade structure.
- The remainder of the budget accounts for a 15% construction contingency and a 6% escalation allowance to cover anticipated cost increases before construction begins.
The addition of the $50,000 shade structure is pitched as both a climate resilience measure and a way to protect the town’s investment. With rising average temperatures in Massachusetts, the application explained the structure will provide a cooler play environment for Haynes students. It is also expected to reduce direct solar and UV exposure on the new rubber surfacing, which could help prevent the kind of rapid heat and weather-related deterioration that may have contributed to the surface failures.
If the CPA funding is approved by the Community Preservation Committee and subsequently at Town Meeting in 2027, the district plans to finalize designs and put the project out to bid in the spring of 2027. Construction would take place over the summer of 2027 to minimize disruption, with the goal of reopening the newly renovated, ADA-compliant playground before students return for the 2027-2028 school year.
For now, the School Committee has voted to support the submission of the application. During discussion in their September 14 meeting, the SPS School Committee discussed other needs at and around the playground, which Duran said would be dealt with in future projects in the coming years.
[Feature image: Town of Sudbury]