If you’ve been to Phelps Grove Park recently, you might have noticed a temporary orange fence keeping people out of an area in the center of the playground.
Soon, that fence will be removed, and visitors — kids and adults alike — will have life-sized musical instruments to play.
The Roseann Bentley Musical Playground is the first of its kind for the Springfield-Greene County Park Board, according to its spokesperson Jenny Filmer-Edwards. "The first playground that's intentionally built to make a merry noise with playground-grade musical instruments."
There will be eight instruments in a circle, including a xylophone, drums, a tone tree and flowers that make musical noises.
Filmer-Edwards said the playground idea came about when the Community Partnership of the Ozarks approached the Park Board to help it find a way to honor one of its founding members upon her retirement. Roseann Bentley was on the original CPO board and served for many years.
She was also a state senator and county commissioner who had served for years on local, state and national boards of education "and was very interested all throughout her career in children and families, said Filmer-Edwards.
A dedication for the Roseann Bentley Musical Playground is planned for Tuesday, November 21, at 3 p.m. at Phelps Grove Park.