A bid to construct a fully accessible playground at Bear Tavern Elementary School has been approved and awarded by the Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education.
In the school board’s regular June meeting, board members awarded a $449,224 contract to Z Tech Contracting, LLC, which is a construction company based out Mountainside, to build a Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessible playground that will replace the original outdated playground at Bear Tavern.
The renovations would include replacing the playground equipment, adding an accessible rubber play surface and an underdrain system.
The school district will use $300,000 from capital reserve for the project.
“If you recall this started from private donations from the community but given the fact that it was a project moved to the front of the building and the fact that we needed to do some extensive costs here related to environmental review that total project cost has gone up to $550,000 over the original $250,000 estimate that was donated and with a grant as well,” said Board member Mark Peters, who chairs Finance and Facilities Committee.
In 2025, the school district received in the 2025-26 state budget $125,000 to cover half of the original estimate of $250,000 for a new ADA accessible playground at Bear Tavern and replace the outdated equipment that is not fully accessible for all students.
Peters added at the June meeting, “The bid that is on the agenda tonight is going to be to approve (the playground) for the construction as well as for the additional cost which we will pull out of capital reserves in order to fulfill that.”
