On a chilly Wednesday morning in a playground at the corner of John and Lytle streets in Princeton, Shirley Satterfield let her mind go back to a time when she played there as a little girl and got stuck on a swing.
The playground opened in 1946, but the swing and much else about Mary Moss Playground and the once predominately black neighborhood it calls home has changed over the years. Municipal officials are spending almost $700,000 to spruce up the playground by installing new equipment and making other improvements for a new generation of children to enjoy.
Satterfield, a local historian who lives in the once predominately black Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood where the playground is located, joined Mayor Liz Lempert and other Princeton officials at an April 18 groundbreaking ceremony for the project.
“And I’m here for remembrance,” she said with a shovel in hand. “It’s very nostalgic for me.”
For Satterfield and the rest of the black community that used to live here, this was their place to play as children.
The playground originally had been called the John Street wading pool, the only swimming facility open to Princeton’s black community in a time when the public schools were segregated. Later, it was renamed for Moss, a local woman who worked at a nursery school and was seen as a maternal figure for residents of the neighborhood, Satterfield said.
“I grew up here, this was our playground,” Satterfield said.
At one point, she motioned to a now empty area of the playground where the swing she played on as a child used to be.
“I was swinging and I swung right over the railing,” she said.
The place held memories for another woman attending the groundbreaking.
“I swam here … my mom would come over and lifeguard,” said Bernadine Hines, a fellow resident of the neighborhood. “It is nostalgic.”
According to the municipality, the project is due to be completed June 15, which would have the playground ready in time for summer when school lets out.
“I’m excited to get to this point,” municipal recreation director Benjamin Stentz said at the event. “These things can drag on a for a long time. We learned that with (Community Park) Pool. But ultimately, in the end, you get the right design that satisfies a majority of people.”
Among other things, the town will install a water play area, known as a sprayground, picnic tables, playground equipment and other features.
“My excitement is really for the people who live in this neighborhood because it’s going to be a really cool playground and once they see it, I think people are going to enjoy it,” Stentz said.
“I’m glad it’s finally going to be renovated,” Hines said. “And I’m glad to see it come back. The neighborhood needs it. I’m sure the kids miss it. It’s a happy sight.”
