Steamboat Springs Parks and Recreation staff is asking for the community’s feedback in choosing the details for a new playground planned for Little Toots Park.

Staff members are collecting input on three different options for the new playground. Each has been designed by contractor Little Tikes Commercial, which has designed playgrounds in many of the city’s other parks and designed the current playground at Little Toots Park about 25 years ago. Community members can view the options and take the survey at EngageSteamboat.net/littletoots.

The new playground is part of a larger renovation at the park, which will include a renewed sidewalk, a gazebo and a more accessible playground. The project will cost about $250,000 of the city’s capital improvement projects fund.

“As this stuff gets worn and old, it gets a little difficult to repair and replace things,” said Ernie Jenkins, parks, open space and trails supervisor. “It’s going to be a nice makeover for the park, which is one of our most popular parks in town.”

The city normally rotates its playgrounds about once every 25 years, but the 2008 recession put the city behind schedule, and it is still catching up.

“There are just some aspects to the current playground that do not meet today’s current safety standards,” Jenkins said. “That’s why it’s important for us to have feedback from the community, and especially kids, on what they want to see there for the future.”

Community members who take the survey are asked to specify their age group because the city is trying to gauge input coming from both children and adults, as the two groups may want different qualities in a playground.

Jenkins said input from the community is particularly important because Little Toots is such a popular park in a visible, central location downtown.

“We try to gather community input when we do a project like this, rather than make the decision ourselves ans have the community be upset about it,” Jenkins said. “In the wake of the pandemic, public meetings haven’t happened, and its really difficult to have an open house or a playground on Zoom.”

To reach Alison Berg, call 970-871-4229 or email aberg@SteamboatPilot.com.