Children’s playground in the works in Chalan Kanoa

Officer and directors of the Rotary Club of Saipan pose with guest speaker William Torres from the Saipan Municipal Council and his colleagues from the council after Torres’ presentation last Tueday at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan. (CHRYSTAL MARINO)

The Saipan Municipal Council is looking at building a children’s playground for Chalan Kanoa residents, according to William Torres in a presentation last Tuesday during the Rotary Club of Saipan’s weekly meeting at the Crowne Plaza Resort Saipan.

As plans are being made and positioned, Torres shared how they desired to serve the children of CK, as it is not only holds a large number of residents, but also in some ways is a really “underserved area.”

Aside from the smaller and weathered playgrounds in the Laly 4 beachside area of Chalan Kanoa, there are no playgrounds for children within the main villages, and Torres said the council had been working on changing that.

The idea is to build a park that would not only accommodate child’s play, but would also be a free WiFi zone where children can access the internet for homework. He said they are already working with IT&E on that, and also noted that they are working with the CNMI Office of Grants Management and State clearinghouse and the Governor’s Office to make the area, as well as the Kiosku courtyard near the U.S. Postal Service, a completely solar-powered area.

As of now, the council has two location options, Torres said. The first option is the empty jungle lot directly adjacent to the Kiosku parking lot. According to Torres, this area is currently privately owned.

If that first option doesn’t work out, the fallback plan is to locate the playground on the sire of the old council office, once it has been rebuilt to the newer modern version next year.

He shared that the playground will be fenced for safety since it is near the road. When a Rotarian asked if it were better to build the playground near the beach, Torres replied that the idea of building the playground away from beaches is around the thought of protecting children from exposure to some, if any, irresponsible adult behavior cause by drinking, smoking, etc. He also mentioned how the area would also be convenient since the Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority recently decided to add a station in that area, therefore children will have transportation from school and back home. “The municipal council has really focused on…providing this kind of facility to the children of Chalan Kanoa, who practically don’t have any kind of these facilities after school,” he added.