FAIRMONT — This year’s summer playground program, coordinated by Fairmont Community Education and Recreation, has taken on a new format because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Fairmont Park Board on Tuesday heard about the restyled program, which is sponsored annually by the city.

Patti Reigel and Emily Lubenow merged their creativity to develop a virtual program for students from kindergarten through sixth grade. They selected 10 different themes, one for each week of the series which runs from Monday through Thursday from June 8 through Aug. 13.

The program is free, and all materials for the crafts, games and activities are provided or easily available in most households.

Reigel admitted that she misses the face-to-face contact with the children during the sessions but has enjoyed developing and adapting the virtual version.

“It’s been challenging, but it’s been really fun,” she said.

The response to the virtual program exceeded that of the original version, which took place in various city parks throughout the summer.

“We made enough kits for 15 kids, but we’re up to 42,” Lubenow said.

“They are an amazing team. They have had some wonderful ideas,” said Roni Dauer, Fairmont CER director.

For more information on the virtual summer playground program, contact CER at (507) 235-3141.

In other business, Nick Lardy, park and street departments supervisor, reported that the lap and dive pools at the Fairmont Aquatic Park have been filled in preparation for the facility’s opening July 1 for an abbreviated season. The splash pool will be filled, and all systems will be up and running by the end of the week.

The city’s parks and shelter houses are all open, and the volleyball courts at Gomsrud Park also are open.

Troy Nemmers, city engineer/public works director, announced that the final section of concrete has been poured for the Cedar Creek Park trail loop, but the trail is not yet open due to site restoration. However, the Day Farm trail has been resurfaced and is completely open.

Bids on the Margaret Street trail extension to the interstate highway have been received, with Nemmers reporting good numbers in the bids. Construction is planned to begin this fall.

Ten loads of wood chips were hauled from the tree dump this week, Lardy said, making a big improvement at the site. He explained that the grinding takes more time because the chips must be no bigger than 1 inch, as opposed to the normal 3 inches. This is necessary to haul the chips out of Martin County, which is a quarantine county because of the possible presence of the emerald ash borer.

Nemmers reminded board members that July’s meeting will include a 2021 budget discussion so members should consider any capital improvements they or the public would like to see in the parks.