Lamson Woods sports new playground equipment

FAIRFIELD – What was once an inconspicuous patch of grass three years ago has turned into one of the most popular playgrounds in Fairfield.

Fairfield has undergone a surge of new playground equipment in the last six years in parks such as Howard, Heritage, Waterworks, O.B. Nelson, and most recently in Lamson Woods. Lamson Woods did not have any playground equipment at all until 2023, when the Dowd family that owns Cado Ice Cream donated toward the creation of a playscape there including various swings and climbing structures.

Now, two years later, the Dowd family has made another contribution to add even more features at the playground such as a pair of gliders that can be taken for a thrilling ride, and a sandbox and elevated lily pads for the younger set. Those features opened earlier this fall.

Stephen Pedrick, a member of the Jefferson County Trails Council that partnered on the project, said the first set of playground equipment in 2023 catered to children ages 5-10. The new equipment is intended to serve kids both younger and older than that age range.

“The glider is targeted toward the older crowd, and the sandbox is more for toddlers,” he said. “The playground has been pretty busy on the weekends. It provides something that was missing in Fairfield, because there’s no other playground like it in town. It gives kids a different way to enjoy the outdoors.”

Every year, Cado Ice Cream gives to an organization called One Percent for the Planet, which directs 1 percent of a company’s proceeds to environmental causes. The company chose to direct their contributions toward the creation and subsequent upgrades to the playground at Lamson Woods.

John Loin of Partner Construction was hired to install the equipment in 2023 and again for this most recent round in 2025.

“We ordered everything back in the spring, and all of the equipment came from overseas, so it was in transit like 12-14 weeks,” Loin said. “We started installing in June, then had to wait for some equipment, and got most of it done in August, with benches and then seeding coming in September.”

The pair of gliders stretch across the southern end of the open space in the playground. On the north edge, a retaining wall of boulders divides the sandbox and the lily pads.

The land formerly hosted the city’s wastewater treatment plant, and when that was demolished and abandoned in the 1960s, it ended up being a dump. Loin said he and his employees, plus a team of volunteers, spent “hundreds of hours” cleaning up the tons of glass and other debris left behind before seeding the area and putting down mulch under the gliders. He said 100 cubic yards of mulch were spread there, and then about 16-17 tons of sand were brought in for the sandbox.

“And the kids loved playing on the sand pile before we could spread it,” Loin said. “They were playing King of the Hill.”

Loin said the highlight of this project was seeing all the smiles on the kids who tried the gliders when they opened.

“They were having races and pushing each other … that made it all worth it right there,” he said.

To use the gliders, youngsters hold on to a rope while resting on a seat suspended from an overhead cable. Beginning at the west end, they allow gravity to take them to the other end. Loin said one of his employees did the test run on the gliders so he would know how much to increase or decrease the tension on the line to prevent it from sagging too much.

Loin said he’s proud to have played a role in creating a space for children to have “pure, physical fun” in nature, a great alternative to sitting in front of a screen.

“The things I remember about being a little kid were being outdoors and climbing,” he said. “This is a wonderful addition not only to our playgrounds but to our trails. That trail is such a gem.”

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Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com