As of July 10, the playground at Garfield Park is a fenced-off construction site. Fencing is still up around the play area, cones sit inside it, and the ground is bare gravel and dirt. New components can be seen disassembled nearby, waiting to be installed. The playground is closed, with no reopening date posted on-site.

The city expects that to change soon. Andie Allred, a Recreation Supervisor with Everett Parks and Recreation, said the playground should open by the end of July, following a satisfactory safety assessment. An official grand opening will come later, whenever the mayor and other officials can align their calendars - meaning kids will likely be playing on the new equipment well before any ribbon is cut.

The roughly $940,000 project remains on budget, Allred said, neither over nor under what the city council approved last December.

Garfield Park sits in the heat of Everett's Riverside neighborhood at 2300 Walnut Street, with the playground entrance at 2300 State Street. At 5.6 acres, it dates to 1931, when the Riverside Chamber of Commerce bought the land and gave it to the city. Only the playground is being renovated; the ball fields, tennis and pickleball courts, and the rest of the park remain open.

The council approved the money last December to replace equipment that had reached the end of its life. The playground was 19 years old, well past Everett's 15-year standard. The old wood-fiber ground surface is being replaced with play turf the city says is safer, more accessible, and easier to clean.

The redesign came from community input, and Allred said the department took that feedback seriously in shaping the plan. One specific change she pointed to: the new playground splits into two age-specific areas, one for children ages 1 to 4 and another for ages 5 to 12. The old playground served only the older group.

Garfield is one of several Everett playgrounds renovated in the current cycle - Lowell reopened in March, Drew Nielsen in January, Kiwanis last June. The city has been working down a list of aging play areas one at a time. Garfield is next in line to reopen.

In the meantime, Garfield Elementary's playground across the street is available for community use after school hours and on weekends through the School Playground Partnership.