New playground with 100-foot zip line coming to Vaile Park this fall

DIXON – A new playground with a 100-foot zip line will be coming to Vaile Park this fall.

The $225,000 project will be the Dixon Park District’s largest playground, including a main structure with slides, as well as the zip line, swing sets and twirl, which is similar to a merry-go-round and can hold 10 children.

“It’s going to be a beautiful addition to Vaile Park,” district Executive Director Duane Long said. “It’s a good park to enhance, and I think it’s long overdue.”

The Park District received a $50,000 grant from the playground company GameTime for the project, and it should be installed by late August or September, Long said.

About 90% of the playground surface will be rubber, a safe and low-maintenance option that also will add color to the playground, he said. There will be wood chips under the zip line.

“It’s going to be a huge improvement,” Long said.

The current playground, about 15 years old, will be removed and its items likely donated.

In the past few years, the district has made several playground improvements including a new playground and 75-foot zip line in Lowell Park, a 76-foot gravity rail in Haymarket Square Park and an inclusive playground to accommodate children with disabilities in John Dixon Park.

Another project for the fall will be the installation of a canoe/kayak launch in Lowell Park off the Rock River, for which the district received an $80,000 Boat Access Area Development grant.