Newport is considering new playground equipment and other improvements at Mansion Hill Park as part of a broader effort to make the city’s parks more attractive and more intentionally designed.
The city commission held a first reading on a purchase order with DWA Recreation for new playground equipment after the roughly 25-year-old equipment at the park at 524 3rd St. began deteriorating.
Newport Assistant City Manager Brian Steffen said the city had received a complaint about a break in one of the playground’s slides. About a month later, another break appeared in a plastic walking surface, prompting the city to remove the equipment.
The new playground will include two play structures, one designed for children ages 2 to 5 and another for ages 5 to 12. City officials said the arrangement responds to feedback from residents who wanted the park to have options for both younger and older children.
“The quality of those amenities [parks] are why people live in communities,” Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli Jr. said. “So we need to continue to improve that, grow it and do this work that we’re doing right now.”
The purchase order with DWA Recreation is not to exceed $88,796.98 and will be paid from the city’s capital projects fund. The project received a $48,462.50 matching grant through the 2026 GameTime Community Champions program, reducing the city’s cost.
The city will retain the park’s existing swing structure. The structure will be professionally recoated and outfitted with new swings, Steffen said.
Officials are also considering upgrading the playground’s surface. While DWA’s quote includes engineered wood fiber, the city is researching the cost of a poured rubberized surface. Steffen said the alternative would have a higher upfront cost but could provide a better appearance and require less maintenance than the wood-chip surfaces commonly used at playgrounds.
The playground equipment is expected to take six to eight weeks to arrive once ordered, and city officials hope to get it in place before winter.
But officials emphasized that replacing the playground is only the beginning of the work planned at Mansion Hill Park.
The city is working to develop a more cohesive look for its parks, including consistent branding using Newport’s colors. Steffen said the city wants future park projects to feel purposeful rather than like a collection of unrelated improvements.
Commissioner Mike Radwanski said he supported creating a consistent identity across the park system.
“I like the branding being consistent throughout all the parks as well,” Radwanski said. “It really gives us a look that this isn’t a patchwork; that this is all thought out.”
Officials are looking at the park as a whole, including damaged fencing, landscaping, grass, hardscape and improvements to the park shelter.
The Mansion Hill project comes amid a larger push by Newport officials to invest in the city’s parks. Newport has 12 parks throughout the city. Officials pointed to work at Ralph Mussman, Buena Vista, Clifton Neighborhood and Bernard Watkins parks and said Seventh Street park is another location in need of attention.
“We understand that there’s quite a bit of need in our parks,” Newport City Manager John Hayden said. “They’re well utilized, and we want them to be something that everybody’s proud of, and can look at them and say, ‘This is a first-class city. We have first-class parks.’”
Steffen said he also plans to present the Mansion Hill Park plans at the East Row neighborhood group’s September meeting. The Newport Commission will hold a second reading on the project at its September meeting.
