Koppel Borough Celebrating Grand Opening Of New Park

Koppel Borough will be celebrating the grand opening of the Koppel Playground on Saturday, October 26th with an official ribbon cutting.

“This playground will be the first playground that Koppel has had in a number of years,” said Koppel Mayor Athena Pangikas-Miller.

Pangikas-Miller said there used to be one where the old Koppel school was, but once the school was sold it was gone.

“It’s an exciting advancement that Koppel is going to get to have this. We don’t really have many amenities for young families, but now we will.”

Pangikas-Miller attributes the addition to an effort by Koppel Borough Council.

“They have been great at reaching out to get businesses to donate. And they continue to reach out for donations.”

The celebration marks the completion of Phase 2 of the Koppel Park Renovation, which included the addition of a pavilion (that can be used for events and rentals), A three-bay six-swing swing set, play structure, and a permanent restroom.

And that won’t be it. According to Pangikas-Miller, there are many more updates to come. She said the borough hopes to be able to add an additional restroom next year. This will be an ongoing project based on donations and grants.

“The whole reason I joined council many years ago was because we have a lot of kids in Koppel, and I wanted to represent those families with kids,” she said. “We want to keep expanding and working on that.”

Although it can be difficult to get funding in a small community, Pangikas-Miller said they will keep trying and applying to various grants.

“Now that we have more of the park built out, we might be considered more of a candidate,” she said.  “I think be able to get this much done already speaks volumes.”

Light refreshments will be served during the celebration event that begins at 5:30 p.m.

A game of ‘Catch The Cops’ for local children will follow to help break in the new play area. Kids will get to be deputy for the day in a game of hide and seek with the police department.

Members of council, police, and fire departments will stay afterwards to judge the Halloween Decoration Contest.

“We hope residents will come out and enjoy the event. The local police will be involved with the kids in a giant game of catch and release. I think they will have fun with that. I think it’s a great way to inaugurate that space.”

The Koppel Borough Halloween parade, Spooky Jail, and Trick or Treat is scheduled for Thursday, October 31st.

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https://www.koppelborough.gov/