Chadds Ford Township now has something for kids. Supervisors officially opened the playground during a brief ceremony late Friday afternoon. It had been unofficially open for several weeks.

“This is a true milestone for Chadds Ford,” said Supervisor Noelle Barbone. “We are fortunate to be home to not only a municipal park, but also the Brandywine Battlefield State Park, as well as the First State National Park. We needed a township park and now we have one of our own.”

The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources provided more than $138,000 for the site, plus another $25,000 for Chadds Ford to update the Open Space Plan, Barbone added.

Supervisors’ Vice-Chairman Samantha Reiner talked about what led up to the playground being built. It started in 2017 when the township decided to update its Open Space Plan.

“After lots of volunteer hours by our Open Space Committee members and the Brandywine Conservancy we had a final draft of the updated Open Space Plan in 2018. The update provided the recreational piece that includes parks, trails, and playgrounds. The playground we’re standing in front of was a priority item in that plan and we are thrilled to see that plan come to a reality.”

The playground is diagonally behind the township building, next to the Turner’s Mill sewer plant. Several township residents said anonymously that there is no way they would take their children or grandchildren to a playground that was next to a sewer plant.

When asked why that site was chosen, Barbone said it was the only site available. Reiner, however, said there was no problem with the location and that she would take children there.

“I checked with DELCORA [the plant operator] and everything is safe. I have no trouble when they operate within their parameters and this is,” she said.

The event was marked by Girl Scouts from Chadds Ford and Pocopson Elementary schools planting daffodil bulbs around the perimeter of the playground.