Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Children play on Houghton Elementary School’s new playground equipment Wednesday. The district was able to use ESSER-3 funding to replace the previous 25-year-old equipment.

HOUGHTON — When Houghton Elementary School kids run out to recess next week, they’ll have some exciting options on the playground.

New playground equipment was installed at the playground this month. With the old equipment reaching the quarter-century mark, it’s something the district has been looking at for the past couple years, said Houghton-Portage Township Schools Superintendent Anders Hill.

“It was really time to be refreshed, and made new, which is what we were able to do,” he said.

The district used some of its ESSER 3 COVID-19 relief funds to cover the $300,000 cost of the playground.

When the district held community forums looking at how to best spend those funds, one recurring theme was places where kids could have recreation outside.

That fit the district’s priorities for the funding, “where it affected a lot of kids from the district for a long period of time,” Hill said.

Penchure, a company that has also put in other area playgrounds,handled the design and building. A draft of the plan went to the elementary school teachers, who provided some input.

The most important feedback came from some of the students who would be using it — the elementary school council.

“They really helped dial in what they thought would be fun and wanted to see in the playground,” Hill said. “If it’s a good playground, they really deserve all the credit, because they honed in the design and picked what is out there right now.”

The new pieces went in Aug. 1. In the last few weeks of summer vacation, Hill’s seen kids playing there all the time.

“We received a lot of really positive feedback, so we’re excited to see when the kids are playing on it,” he said. “That’ll be a rewarding thing to see them having a good time.”

Wednesday, numerous children were excitedly trying out the new slides, monkey bars and other features. Parents and children both gave it high praise.

The new equipment is “much nicer, and much safer,” said parent Suha Khalil of Houghton. The old equipment was smaller, making it more cramped when children were playing, she said.

“Now it’s all new, and it’s much better,” she said.