By Logan Wells, News Director | Logan@kymnradio.net
Several playgrounds across Northfield’s parks are slated for renovation in the coming years. At a recent public meeting in Central Park, the new design for the playground was shown. After the meeting, KYMN News had the opportunity to catch up with Bruce Jacobson, who is leading the redesign of the city’s parks system. He stated that the park’s age was the main reason for looking at the overhaul now:
“People should know that we’re going to take this one step at a time and look at many of the City of Northfield’s playgrounds. They were all built at about the same time. The equipment is in various stages of either completely falling apart, unsafe, they don’t make the parts anymore, those kinds of things too.” – Bruce Jacobson, Consultant to the City, KYMN Interview
Jacobson said that with the opportunity to review and work on several parks at a time, they were trying to find ways to make each park unique from the others. Stating Central Park would be a more traditional design, while Dresden and Riverside Park would be a more unique experience:
Listen to the News:
“Other places we’re going to get more creative. We’re also looking at the Discovery Zone at Riverside Lions Park, as well as the nature-based play area. That’s a completely different kind of play experience. The one at Dresden Hill Park, I want to encourage people to look at the website and see what we’re doing there. It’s kind of a chutes and ladders kind of approach to park design.” – Bruce Jacobson, Consultant to the City, KYMN Interview
Read More:
Riverside Park Set to Undergo Playground Renovations in 2026; Focus on Providing A Nature-Themed Space – Click Here
The last guiding principle for the park’s redesign was making it accessible to all, noting an active senior population and grandparents who may take their grandchildren to the park. He cited CC Linstroth and Age Friendly Northfield for helping provide advice on how to make the parks better:
“You know, this idea of benches that face each other, being cautious about the kinds of surfaces that we use so that people who are less mobile have the same kinds of opportunities for access and enjoyment.” – Bruce Jacobson, Consultant to the City, KYMN Interview In 2026, the city will be focusing on Central Park and Dresden Park. Will have more specific details about those two, in a future newscast.
Newscasts on KYMN air on weekdays at 6am, 7am, 8:30am, Noon, 3pm, and 5pm. If you miss it live, you can subscribe on your preferred podcast app:
> Click here to listen on Spotify
> Click here to listen on Apple Podcast
Do you have a news tip or press release? Send it to our email: Logan@kymnradio.net
