By Sam Gilkey
For the News-Gazette

When the weather worked against an expansion of the boardwalk at St. Cloud’s Peghorn Nature Park, crews just moved to O. P. Johnson Park.

Depending on how much delay this week’s storms caused, a new section of playground could be finished just in time for the Labor Day weekend.

“We put up the Weevos model equipment for 2 to 5-year-olds,” said Eric Van Tassel, crew leader for Parks and Recreation.

Van Tassel, who has been with the city for 21 years and worked on many playground projects said the new apparatus was a challenge.

“It is the first one of this style we are putting up,” he said. “And it comes together different from most of the others we have.”

“The cost of this first phase at O.P. Johnson will come in under $50,000,” said Kimberly Duffy, landscape/beautification manager. “And we will save $50,000 by installing it ourselves. We are putting down a soft rubber matting under the structure. We have tried many ground covers but like this one because repair is so much easier and it’s so soft to walk on.”

Duffy said phase two of the work at the park on Georgia Avenue will be construction of a physical fitness course that both adults and children can use. Once that is finished, she said, crews will restore the existing playground for 5 to 12-year-olds.

Meanwhile back at Peghorn Park, off Budinger Avenue, work stalled when the dry weather made it difficult to sink the pilings for the extension to the existing 300-foot-long boardwalk through the park.

“We didn’t have enough rain (to soften the ground) in order to drive the pilings,” Duffy said. “When we go back we will pump water from a ditch on the far-west side of the property.”

On one hand there was too little water, but then, “we had too much rain for a week and couldn’t get our other equipment in,” she said.

Materials for the new 300-foot extension will cost $13,000 according to Duffy. She said the  savings will be about the same figure because in-house labor will be used.

While the walkway is closed during this construction phase, all other park areas are open during regular hours.

“The purpose of the installation is to allow a recreational encounter normally hidden within Florida’s wetlands,” Duffy said.

Snakes, birds, deer, hogs are regular inhabitants of the park.

“And we have found evidence of a coyote on the property,” she added.

Peghorn was established by the city in 1992. It covers 58 acres. The name Peghorn comes from the cattle raised in the area in the 1900’s. The animals had unusual wood-peg shaped horns.