FOLSOM — A wave of excitement filled the room Wednesday night as residents, city leaders, and longtime volunteers gathered for the much-anticipated reveal of the reimagined play structure of the beloved Folsom Kids Play Park, known to most as Castle Park, that has inspired generations of play and community pride for nearly three decades.
Hosted by the City of Folsom’s Parks and Recreation Department, the unveiling event brought together community members who helped build the original 1996 playground and new supporters eager to take part in its next chapter. Renderings of the new design were met with smiles, applause, and a few nostalgic tears as attendees saw familiar elements — from the iconic dragon climber to the castle turrets — brought back to life in a refreshed, accessible, and lasting form.
“This has truly been a labor of love,” said District 5 Councilmember Anna Rohrbough, who represents the area and has helped shepherd the project. “We really tried to incorporate everything that we could under the budget that we had. The staff did an amazing job of reaching out to the community, including those with accessibility concerns, to make sure Castle Park continues to belong to everyone.”
Mayor Sarah Aquino, Vice Mayor Justin Raithel, and Councilwoman Barbara Leary joined Rohrbough and Parks and Recreation Director Kelly Gonzalez for the reveal. Project planners highlighted how the updated park design honors the original community-built playground while introducing new safety, sensory, and ADA-compliant features.
Park Planner Hannah Perez detailed the layout, explaining that the new park will retain its signature two-zone play areas — one for children ages 2 to 5 and another for ages 5 to 12 — both featuring modern, durable materials. New additions include rubberized and engineered wood fiber surfacing, therapeutic swings, fairy houses, sensory panels, and a team swing designed for inclusive play. Returning favorites like the tire swing, tower slides, and dragon climber will be constructed with composite materials to ensure decades of safe use.
“Everything is pretty much in the same place, but with more color, more accessibility, and more durability,” Perez said. “We even made sure the dragon and turrets are back. They were such important features of the original design.”
The toddler “top lot” will feature crawl tunnels, mushroom stepping pods, and a wavy bridge, while the older children’s area will include a ship structure with a steering wheel, a rock wall, hanging pods, monkey bars, rope-climbing towers, and the returning Dragon Tower slide. The design maintains the playground’s imaginative character while providing new elements that invite exploration, coordination, and cooperative play.
The nonprofit Folsom Kids Play for Generations, led by longtime volunteer and president Joanne Brausch, continues to spearhead the fundraising and volunteer efforts. A Folsom resident for 27 years, Brausch has been involved since the first Castle Park build in 1996 and said the community’s response this time around has been just as strong.
“It’s been a labor of love to get us this far,” Brausch said. “We’re thrilled to see the excitement building. We’ve already had an outpouring of support, especially after recent news coverage, with more volunteers signing up every week.”
Brausch announced that opportunities remain for families and local businesses to get involved through personalized bricks, fence slats, or corporate sponsorships that will help fund the remaining costs of the $1.1 million project. A new brick wall will be added opposite the original tile art to honor community donors and balance the park’s design.
Construction began earlier this fall, with the community build event planned for February and March 2026, leading up to a grand reopening in April. Volunteers can sign up through the city’s website or by emailing rebuildthecastle@gmail.com.
For many, Wednesday night’s gathering represented more than a park update — it was a testament to what makes Folsom special: a community that builds together, plays together, and passes its legacy forward.
“Castle Park has always been about community,” added Rohrbough. “It was built by the people of Folsom in 1996, and now a new generation gets to do it again — this time building something even stronger that will last for decades to come.”
Story and photos by Bill Sullivan. Copyright © 2025, Folsom Times, a digital product of All Town Media LLC. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
