Avent Park playground reopens after $500,000 renovation

Avent Park’s rebuilt children’s playground is back in service, giving Oxford families a newer, safer place to play at 120 Park Drive after a $500,000 renovation. The upgrade replaces a wooden structure that had stood since 1998 and had clearly reached the end of its useful life, and it adds a bigger draw to a park already known for its tennis and pickleball courts, walking trail, baseball field and picnic pavilion.

The Oxford Board of Aldermen approved contracts on Nov. 18, 2025, to reconstruct the larger children’s playground. Planet Recess handled construction and Burke supplied the new equipment, after the city received eight bids for the job. The project moved from approval to public use over the following months, with park officials saying in December that the large play area was still under construction and expected to open in spring 2026.

City staff also revised the conceptual design to improve ADA accessibility and better serve a wider range of users. The new playground is about 75% ADA accessible, largely because of the poured-in-place surfacing, making the space more usable for children and caregivers who need smoother, more predictable access than the old wood-based play structure could provide.

Avent Park has long carried local meaning beyond recreation. The original playground was built in 1998 after residents launched a grassroots fundraising effort the year before, and city officials have said they want to preserve as much of that history as possible. Mark Levy, the city’s director of special projects, said staff planned to save pieces of the old wooden playground and potentially display them at another public park, with some parts also slated for restoration at the city shop before returning to Avent Park.

The park’s appeal now reaches well beyond the play structure itself. The Oxford Park Commission describes Avent Park as a multi-use space with two playground areas for kids of all ages, a Little Free Pantry, a Little Free Library and several quiet areas, along with the courts, pavilion, walking trail and baseball field. Some punch-list items remain, but the reopened playground gives Oxford a visible summertime upgrade that is likely to keep more families lingering at the park and making use of the rest of its amenities.