The cheerful roars of children playing have made their way to the new dinosaur-themed playground at Recreation Park ahead of its official reopening this coming Tuesday.

The new playground—located at 4900 E. Seventh St.—consists of several types of equipment suited for children ages 5 to 12, including spinning swings, dinosaur sculptures and a board featuring 15 phrases in American Sign Language, as one of the goals of the months-long project was to increase ADA accessibility. Some of the signs included are “monkey bars,” “play” and “climb.”

On Thursday, the playground was still fenced off by construction crews and closed to the public. But by Saturday morning, it was filled with families looking in awe at the new equipment.

A swingset next to a dinosaur as crews are still working on the Recreation Park Playground a dinosaur-themed playground that will reopen soon in Long Beach Thursday, June 9, 2022. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.

The $1.7 million playground project in East Long Beach was funded through Measure A, which is a voter-approved sales tax that has been used to invest in public infrastructure and public safety services.

The grand reopening will be held Tuesday, June 14, at 1 p.m.

UPDATE: City commission calls for name change of Lincoln Park