BURLINGTON — It was out with the old and in with the new last week as The Commons park in Burlington welcomed a new playground.

Funded by a NatureWorks grant through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and other donations, the new equipment, Phase I of a three-part project, replaced a more than 20-year-old structure that had seen better days.

Ed Moellendick, president of the Concerned Citizens of the Burlington Area, said replacing the old wooden playground equipment was necessary for the safety of the children who use it.

“It was a wood structure and it wasn’t maintained as well as it should have been,” Moellendick said. “Boards were coming loose. Kids were getting splinters in their hands.”

The Concerned Citizens group applied for the grant and was awarded $13,500. Moellendick said the Fayette Township Trustees also donated $6,000, while the Concerned Citizens donated another $4,000.

Volunteers took down the old wooden castle structure while laborers put in the new, colorful slides and climbing equipment.

“After we get Phase II and III put in, we will put rubberized mulch down,” Moellendick said. “We’re extremely proud of it.”

Moellendick said the group will apply for more NatureWorks grants every two years.

Up next for the Concerned Citizens will be displaying a new 14-piece life-sized Nativity scene. Moellendick said members cut and painted the pieces out of plywood and it will be displayed this season at the end of Burlington-Macedonia Road near the river.

To keep up with the group’s activities visit its Facebook page: Concerned Citizens of the Burlington Area.