Popular Tacoma playground is back open. What’s changed since it closed?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tacoma’s Wright Park playground reopened after a lengthy closure and emergency repairs.
- Wooden support posts were replaced with recycled plastic to resist wet-weather damage.
- The project cost $135,000, with 80% funded by a Tacoma Parks Foundation endowment.
The playground at Wright Park reopened this week following a months-long closure and emergency repairs to address rotting wooden posts that supported play equipment, according to Parks Tacoma.
In February, a routine inspection revealed the damage that forced the closure of the playground, 501 S. I St. A repair project was scheduled for this past summer and expected to last three months, The News Tribune previously reported.
Parks Tacoma said in a news release Wednesday that wooden support posts were replaced with recycled plastic to ensure that the playground better withstands wet weather over the years. A new swing set, pulley rope on a climbing structure and bubble window were added as part of the project, according to the agency.
A community celebration is planned for late January, Parks Tacoma said.
The project cost $135,000, with the full expense covered by an endowment established by the Tacoma Parks Foundation, a private nonprofit that since 1991 has invested in parks and recreation access, according to Parks Tacoma.
“This playground is very popular with families and we’re grateful it will once again be a place where children can laugh and play,” Park Board president Andrea Smith said in a statement. “None of this would be possible without the Tacoma Parks Foundation, which created and funded this community asset and planned for its longtime care.”
The Wright Park playground and splayground were built in 2011 in honor of Zina Linnik, a 12-year-old girl who was killed after being abducted in front of her Tacoma home four years earlier.
Working with students from Zina’s Hilltop school and neighborhood, the Tacoma Parks Foundation created a $3.5 million capital campaign to improve her two favorite parks, including Edna Travis Park, in conjunction with other 2005 Park Bond improvements, Parks Tacoma said. The endowment was established as part of that campaign, according to the agency.
Parks Tacoma said it has plans to also add a new accessible crosswalk and replace decayed benches at the Wright Park playground.
This story was originally published December 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
