Rigby cuts ribbon on new playground

Playing just got a lot more exciting for kids in Rigby. The city, along with LuckyDog Recreation, cut the ribbon on its new Pirate Island Playground located in the South Park.

“This before was like a little tiny park with old rusty equipment,” said Nichole Weight, a Rigby City Council member. “And it was fun, there were still people here, but we just knew that Rigby needed something bigger. We’re a growing community and our kids needed something better.”

The new playground features a pirate ship, climbing nets, slides, swings and more. Not only kids get to enjoy the playground, but adults can too.

“It’s so exciting, my girls love it,” said Kelli Arterburn. “We live in IF (Idaho Falls) so it was great to come out here and enjoy the sunshine.”

The city wanted a place for kids to come play. It’s also a way to attract more visitors.

“Most of the times that we’ve been out here we’ve noticed big groups like play groups from Rexburg,” Weight said. “We just talked to somebody just now that came from Idaho Falls, didn’t even know what we were doing out here, just saw the big park from the highway and came to stop and play. So it does bring people in. And that was one of our goals, was to bring people in and show them that we have such great little businesses and the businesses help make this happen with urban renewal money and so we just appreciate them and wanted to give back to them a little bit.”

If you want to check it out, the playground is located at Rigby’s South Park, just off exit 320 on Highway 20.