City officials are looking to replace the Unalaska Elementary School playground as soon as this summer.
Thomas Roufos, chair of the Parks, Culture and Recreation committee, urged city council members Tuesday night to address the deteriorating play structure.
“The cost of a child getting injured, not just financially, but to the community, in terms of emotional response — that is not going to be a situation that we want to be in,” Roufos said. “And it is a very cheap cost in terms of replacing and fixing that playground, compared to what would happen if someone was hurt.”
The 25-year-old playground sits behind Eagle’s View Elementary Achigaalux̂. Acting Director of the Unalaska Department of Parks, Culture and Recreation, Albert Burnham, said the structure was well-built when it was constructed, but it’s reached the end of its life.
“When you get these areas of rust around bolts like this now all of a sudden, not only can you get cut, but there are things that can get snagged on this,” Burnham said, referring to an image of a rusted bolt sticking out of the play structure. “Worst is if a child were to fall and have the various straps that are around their neck — typically the little pull cords and things on jackets love to get snagged on this kind of thing — if a child falls, you can have a pretty severe choking hazard.”
The Unalaska City School District and the Parks Department worked with Great Western Recreation — a playground equipment supplier based out of Utah — to develop the new design, which includes a dinosaur-theme structure and turf surfacing for the field.
The city estimates the entire project to cost $2.6 million. Originally, the renovation was planned for next fiscal year, but the city is asking the council to bump up the project start date.
According to the city, Great Western Recreation needs about three months to manufacture the equipment and an additional month for shipping to the island. If the city waited until July, the start of the next fiscal year, the playground wouldn’t be installed and ready to use for the start of next academic year.
Interim City Manager Abner Hoage said the city wants to get ahead of manufacturing and shipping lead times.
“And ensure that we can have it here and installed over the summer while the kids are out of school,” Hoage said. “In addition, moving the funding forward to now, allows us to secure 2026 pricing and avoid any cost escalation, keeps the project on track for completion before the kids return to school.”
The city council will hear a second reading and public hearing to amend the budget and move playground construction to this fiscal year at its upcoming meeting on Feb. 24.
