The newest improvements to a long-neglected park on Seymour’s west side have some living in the area excited about its future.

“As someone who grew up right next to Westside Park and now has children, I love being able to show them where I used to play as a kid,” Seymour native Holli Nicole Brooks said. “We can’t wait for the splash pad.”

Eva Plessinger was similarly thrilled with the renovations for the park, saying, “I have lived beside Westside Park for over 30 years, and I am one very happy resident of Seymour. I have always waited for something to be done with Westside Park.”

The 4-acre park in the 900 block of West Jackson Street was established in the late 1950s.

One year ago, the city of Seymour and Healthy Jackson County entered into a memorandum of understanding with Schneck Medical Center regarding a nearly $1 million grant designed to help people become physically active and spend more time outdoors.

Thanks to that grant, installation of new playgrounds at four of Seymour’s parks started in October 2023.

The first to be completed was the new playground at Freeman Field Recreational Complex on the far south side of the city. It opened in November. That playground includes poured-in-place flooring instead of mulch, which each new playground will utilize. A unique aspect of the new Freeman Field playground is the inclusion of musical equipment.

Installation is still underway for new playgrounds at Westside, Gaiser and Kasting parks.

Excavation started Oct. 16 to prep Westside Park. The old playground was removed and is in the process of being replaced. There are currently also plans for a splash pad to be installed later in the year.

A restroom building has already been constructed for the splash pad. Electrical work on the restroom building was performed by the same company that installed the plumbing, Craig’s Heating Air Electric Plumbing Inc. of Seymour.

The Seymour Parks and Recreation Department also received additional funding from the Indiana Department of Health to repave the basketball court at Westside Park.

Other current paving projects include angled parking at Westside Park and paving the two parking lots at Gaiser Park, which will be paid for through the department’s cumulative capital fund. The project at Gaiser will include handicap-accessible parking for people using both the playground and shelter house.

Other Seymour residents expressed their feelings about the recent improvements to Westside Park.

“Westside Park has needed the attention for years. I’m glad it’s finally getting it instead of (being) overlooked,” Mason Killion said.

Avid quilter and RV road-tripper Diana Pray said, “We are so blessed to get a new playground for our kids and grandchildren.”

Paving for the pickleball courts at Gaiser Park will be covered through a grant from the Seymour Redevelopment Commission.

PlayPros of Kokomo is responsible for the installation of all four new playgrounds.

Parks Director Chad Keithley said in November that the playgrounds should be finished soon, but he was unsure if the poured-in-place flooring would be installed later because of the weather.