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A new playground in Bear Creek Park sparkles like a fairy tale castle in the middle of a forest of oaks, attracting the attention of local residents, particularly children, waiting for it to be finished. “It’s going to be really exciting and fun for the local kiddos,” said Jared West, a 31-year-old Medford resident cycling through the park Friday. Workers have been busy on the playground with its spired roofs, and local officials say there is a possibility it might be open by next month. “I hope this will end up being a terrific holiday gift for the community,” said Rich Rosenthal, director of Medford Parks and Recreation. He said there are no guarantees, because a warehouse fire in Georgia resulted in delays for almost a dozen critical parts needed to complete the structure, forcing the city to postpone the grand opening. The structure, which is one of a kind, has also faced some cost overruns. Instead of about $600,000, it’s now going to cost closer to $800,000, Rosenthal said. So far, $375,000 has been raised from donations, grants and in-kind contributions, and Rosenthal said he’s got more grant applications in the works. He said he’s made some adjustments to other projects to make sure there is enough money available, which will be replaced when more donations and grants come in. To make a donation, go to www.ci.medford.or.us/Page.asp?NavID=4188. The list of items needed to finish the structure includes a spiral plastic tube slide, a three-wheel swinger, horizontal ladders, rubber mushroom steppers, a seesaw coil climber, swing seats, adaptive swing seats and various hardware to fit all those bits and pieces together. “The parts have been trickling in,” Rosenthal said. Even with the missing pieces, the sprawling structure, which replaced one made of wood in the late 1980s, looks largely complete to the untrained eye. Rosenthal said it’s probably up to 90 percent complete, with a good portion of the work done by 1,083 volunteers. Some of the cost overruns came from needing more concrete, plus little things such as buying drills for the volunteers. If the volunteers hadn’t helped, the elaborate playground would have cost double, he said. “There is no way the city could have even contemplated building this without the volunteers,” he said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime, custom-built playground ... very few communities have anything like it.” Workers continue to install the 4,600 rubber tiles that will cover 18,000 square feet of playground area. Each 2-by-2-foot tile weighs 20 pounds and sits on a bed of concrete. The playground structure covers 14,000 square feet. The project manager is Leathers & Associates, based in Ithaca, New York. The former Bear Creek Park playground, which was removed to make way for the new structure, was also a Leathers project and built with the help of volunteers. Many local parents who played there as children are now waiting to bring their own kids to try it out. Construction began Sept. 29, and Rosenthal noted that other playground projects have faced even longer delays. “We’re still in immeasurably better shape than Troutdale,” he said. “That playground has taken the better part of this calendar year.” Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected]. Follow him on www.twitter.com/reporterdm.