The Children’s Museum of the East End celebrated the grand opening of a brand-new playground — a goal the museum’s co-presidents, Liz Bard and Lara Sweeney, have been working toward for four years.
“Most people think of CMEE as a place to go on rainy days, but we want people to think of CMEE on sunny days as well,” Ms. Sweeney said Sunday. The playground is a collaboration between SPEC Play, a playground-design firm; the LaGuardia Design Group, local landscape architects, and the Hampton Yards landscaping team, and features equipment produced by Berliner, a family-owned German company that aims to create “play equipment for life.”
The design features two structures, one for children ages 2 to 5, the other for ages 5 to 12, which Ms. Sweeney described as “very beautiful, very safe,” and “challenging — in a good way.” Both structures present simple, practical problems, she said, such as, “How do I climb to the top of this?” that engage the mind in a way not replicable on the increasingly prevalent smartphone screen.
“This year marks the 20-year anniversary of the museum,” announced Christie Jacobs, a member of the CMEE board, shortly before a formal ribbon cutting. “It started with an idea, a group of moms around a table in Amagansett,” and has since grown to “really become a community center,” now offering a Head Start program for preschool students, a food pantry, and E.S.L. programs. She offered a “huge shout-out” to Ms. Bard and Ms. Sweeney for executing the project on time and under budget, which, she remarked, never happens in projects like these.
A few children were called upon to help Ms. Bard and Ms. Sweeney cut the ribbon and after some difficulty with a pair of safety scissors, the ribbon halves flew apart and the rest of the children in attendance, who’d been anxiously biding their time during the opening remarks, flooded the grounds, climbing around every available surface, hanging off ropes suspended between structures, swinging on swings, and sliding down slides.
“This is a place where kids can really be kids,” Ms. Sweeney said. “We forget how important outdoor play is!”