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Roadwork bids exceed Roswell project funding By DELANEY TARR delaney@appenmedia.com
SHELBY ISRAEL/APPEN MEDIA
Alpharetta Recreation Commissioner Jeremy Scott speaks at the Wacky World design day at Alpharetta Elementary School March 28. Scott, a committee member on the project, asked guests to volunteer and donate to make the playground a reality.
Alpharetta unveils early design for Wacky World By SHELBY ISRAEL shelby@appenmedia.com ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Children, parents and staff gathered at Alpharetta Elementary School March 28 for a glimpse of the initial playground design for one of Wills Park’s biggest attractions. Wacky World’s original wood
playground at Wills Park was built by more than 2,600 volunteers over six days in 1997. The 1-acre playground will be replaced in 2024 with a new structure designed by children and built by volunteers. Project Manager Laura Sehn of Play by Design, the playground design firm handling the project, presented the new concept, which features a
dragon tower, an obstacle course, a wheelchair accessible merry-go-round, a pirate ship, a zipline and other amenities. Sehn said the new playground will be roughly 18,000 square feet, and the different features were requested by students, who submitted their dream designs on drawing forms.
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ROSWELL, Ga. — Roswell residents will see fewer streets resurfaced this year after work bids came in higher than anticipated. Members of the Roswell City Council advanced a road resurfacing contract at its March 29 Community Development and Transportation Committee meeting that will likely eliminate six roads that had been scheduled for upgrades this year. The contract will be formally considered at the next City Council meeting. City staff said the roads that will be removed from the 2023 resurfacing list have top priority for 2024. The city had originally allotted about $3.7 million in local and state funds to resurface 38 streets in its 2023 budget. But bids for the work came in higher than anticipated. The lowest offer, from Allied Paving Company, was $4.1 million. City staff recommended paring down the list of streets. “Those are just going to be delayed,” Roswell Transportation Director Jeffrey Littlefield said. “We will either add them to this year’s list with next year’s funding or they will be a priority in 2024.” Littlefield said if the city elects
See FUNDING, Page 26