BENNINGTON, Vt. (NEWS10) — Earlier this week, the new playgrounds at Willow Park passed their certification audit. Town Buildings and Grounds crews opened the area Wednesday, and within minutes, families were checking out the new equipment.

Although the fences are down, there is still work to be done. “We are still waiting on the swings to be installed, and there are a few punch list items that will require us to do some additional work on the playgrounds in the future,” town officials noted in an online statement. “That might require some brief closings to do that work, but we will strive to have that happen during low-use times of the day/week.”

The playgrounds were originally slated to open in late summer 2022. Work was interrupted in late September, when a number of issues were identified by the playground engineer and certification team.

“We are incredibly grateful to the community for their patience and understanding on this long-awaited project,” the town stated on Facebook. “We also want to remember and thank those original volunteers and donors who gave us the first version of the playgrounds back in 1999. The donor bricks remain as the official entrance to the new playground in their honor.”

Willow Park is located in the northwest area of town. It can be accessed from either East Road or Performance Drive. Directions are available through Google Maps.