VOORHEESVILLE – Over 100 volunteers will have to wait until after school lets out for the summer to help build a new playground at Voorheesville Elementary School after the project is to be approved by the New York State Education Department.

A community build was planned for May 10, 11, and 12, but is on hold pending approval.

A playground committee had raised close to a quarter-of-a-million dollars for the project and the school district has already removed the old playground, built 25 years ago by community volunteers at the elementary school.

A confluence of factors led to the delay, said Francis Rielly, Voorheesville’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations.

The playground’s vendor, Park Street Playgrounds, of North Reading, Massachusetts, was not a state-approved vendor, which slowed down the procurement process.

Also, the construction plan for the concrete footing of the playground that was provided by Park Street Playgrounds to Voorheesville and was to be sent to the state did not have an engineer’s stamp – a stamp is an indication that everything in the plans and specifications are correct, coordinated, and appropriate for the project. Without that stamp, the district had to hire another engineer to create and stamp a plan for the footing.

A planned stage and surrounding benches were found to not be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilites Act, and were eliminated.

And, an environmental impact review needs to be completed and signed off on by the board of education.  

Ryan Smith, a committee member of the Friends of the Voorheesville Playground, the group that has spearheaded the project, hopes to have approval in the next couple of weeks and is aiming for another build date in June or July.