The Memorial Park playground in New Ipswich was closed this week as crews worked to replace the play equipment with a new play structure for younger children.

At the same time, work is being done on the softball field to install new lighting.

Mindy Buxton, parks and recreation director, said the playground could reopen as early as Friday and lighting installation is expected to be completed by the end of the month. While the playground is closed, the remaining fields and basketball court are still open. The swimming pool closed for the season in mid-August.

Last week, workers removed the smaller of the park’s two pieces of play equipment to replace it with a new one. Buxton said the equipment is 18 years old and has several cracks.

The city used about $18,500 from the Parks and Recreation Fund’s capital reserve to replace the play structure, which is designed for children ages 3 to 8 and includes a friendship bench, mini climbing wall and slide and is more accessible, Buxton said.

While new equipment is being installed at the playground, work is underway to add lighting to the city’s softball field. Last year, a major fundraiser led by Lauren Somero raised the majority of the funds, as well as $15,000 from the Parks and Recreation Revolving Fund.

Matt Saari of Saari Excavating, Troy Shaw of Silver Leaf Landscaping, Chris Alix of Chris Alix Construction, Anthony Buxton of The Buxton Company, Justin Cormier and Lance Somero donated time and equipment for the work on site. Grace Electric will install the lighting.

In addition, further improvement works will be carried out at the park, including cleaning the area around the New Ipswich Town Pool fence and installing Wi-Fi extenders to provide access to the ballfield.

The park’s Ga-Ga plaza is also slated for replacement in the fall, at a cost of about $2,200, which is expected to come from the park’s revolving fund.

Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, extension 244, or [email protected]. She is on X @AshleySaariMLT.