The children’s play equipment at Smyrna Park will be upgraded on the heels of other improvements that debuted recently.

Last week the Ceres City Council approved spending $168,763 with GameTime of Spring Lake, N.J., to install new play equipment, remove the existing material and replacing it with engineered wood fiber. The company will also enhance the existing playground structure.

Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra asked if community requests for the installation of equipment to accommodate special needs children, like those with autism, will be included.

City Engineer Michael Beltran said the equipment includes a “Spin with Me” merry-go-round like feature which is at an accessible level to transfer kids from a wheelchair.

“The actual rope structures that we have are also inclusive and then there’s also instruments that are for inclusive play,” said Beltran. “We’ve tried to incorporate as much inclusive play as we can. While a lot of the equipment will stay and maybe adjusted so that may not be inclusive but the items we are adding there are quite a few of them for inclusive play.”

Other features to be added include musical chimes and bongos and Vista Tree Top, which is a combination of new spinner and climber.

The children’s play area is near the new Smyrna Park pavilion which debuted June 4. The pavilion was part of an extensive $2.8 million makeover.

Most of the project was funded by a Clean California Local Grant Program (CCLGP) grant administered by Caltrans. The project also used $1.3 million of federal ARPA funds.

The project included the planting of numerous trees and drought tolerant landscaping. Architectural fencing, walkways with ramps for the disabled, new shade structures, more tables with barbecue pits and new trash enclosures were also included.