Roebling Park on North Rebecca Street, may soon host a playground sponsored by the Saxonburg Rotary. Butler Eagle file photo

SAXONBURG — Roebling Park on Rebecca Street already features the Saxonburg Museum, John Roebling’s original wire rope workshop, and a miniature-scale replica of the Brooklyn Bridge. In the near-future, it may gain a playground, courtesy of the Saxonburg Rotary.

The borough council approved a memorandum of understanding between the local Rotary and the borough for the Rotary to commission the construction of a playground on the borough-owned Roebling Park.

The Rotary has been seeking to construct a playground somewhere in Saxonburg for over a year, and had initially committed to building it at a vacant, 0.18-acre plot of land along West Main Street, which was once the site of the borough’s water tower. Although the club initially hoped to break ground on the site earlier this year, Antoszyk says that the Rotary took a long look at the site and changed their mind.

“It just wasn’t fitting,” Antoszyk said.

Due to space constraints, the previous site on West Main Street did not have room for a swing set and accompanying rubberized floor surface, both of which Antosyk said are planned for the new location.

All other play equipment planned for the old location will also be brought to the new location, including monkey bars, a balance beam and a replica of the Saxonburg Rotary trolley.

While Antoszyk said there were few complaints from neighbors at the original site, it just made more sense, logistically and financially, to build a playground at Roebling Park. Despite the larger footprint, Antosyk says the Rotary will actually save money by building at the new site.

“We’ll incur less cost down there because we won’t have to build a retaining wall or anything like that,” Antoszyk said. “It was a cost-savings to move it.”

For the playground at the original site, the Rotary had budgeted $130,000. Antosyk said the budget for the playground at the new site is roughly the same, but with more equipment thanks to the addition of the swing set and its accompanying fall surface.