The 17-year old wooden structure park at the heart of HenryJ.PaulusPark is scheduled to be torn down during springtime of 2014 and replaced by May 2014 with a new park design that community members voted for.

After the village’s risk management company, Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency (I.R.M.A), inspected the 23 playgrounds last summer, the wooden structure known as “KidsKingdom” was recommended to be replaced due to the age of the equipment and material deterioration, such as exposed bolts and nails and rusted chains. Dave Peterson, village recreation manager, hired six designers to start drafting ideas of a new park design.

“I wanted to get community input [on the design] and not just put out a piece of playground equipment without getting something the community would like to use. We had over 253 [community] votes between coming to a community input meeting and online voting,” Peterson said. “We have a pretty good representation of what people wanted [to be built].”

Peterson requested the designers to design two parks: one with a theme and one without. Out of the designs submitted, community members chose the tree house themed designed by Parkreation, and the equipment provided by Little Tikes

“The colors [of the new park] are natural. [The designers] didn’t want to have the bright colors you see at the other parks. We wanted to keep it natural with the PaulusPark integrity that it has,” Peterson said.

The whole project, including tearing down Kid’s Kingdom, putting up the new park, and purchasing equipment, will cost around $250,000. The new design will stay in the 9,475 square feet the where Kid’s Kingdom is, and there will be no expansion, according to Peterson.

There will be no damage done to the surrounding area of the park. Also, the bricks that surround Kid’s Kingdom with names and “in memory of’s” will not be removed and will remain unharmed according to Peterson. Peterson says he has gotten a few concerns from community members who were part of the original building or have dedicated a brick.

“There definitely are some sentimental feelings of pulling up the Kid’s Kingdom,” Peterson said.

Sentiments towards the wooden park are not just felt from the community members who helped built the park, but also from the kids who spent their childhood summers there. Jamie Pryhuber, junior, attended the PaulusPark’s summer camp, and says some of her favorite memories involve KidsKingdom.

“I remember my friends chasing me around [the park] and trying to hide in all the different parts. I remember [going to Kid’s Kingdom] being the highlight of the day during camp,” Pryhuber said. “I think tearing down the wooden park is a good idea because, while it has so many fun memories, it has become a bit run down.”