By Christy Scannell — SDUN Editor

Two Uptown parks are getting a facelift.

In North Park, Councilmember Todd Gloria joined community members and other city officials Feb. 26 to break ground for a new 6,000-square-foot playground at Montclair Park, 2791 Nile St. The $346,000 project – financed with city funds and insurance settlement funds – will create separate active areas for toddlers and older children, including swings, slides, and climbing walls. An ADA-compliant rubber surface will feature images of sun, leaves and sky. The park has been without a playground since a drunk driver damaged the site in 2007. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of June.

The same day in University Heights, Gloria helped break ground for renovations to the joint-use fields at Birney Elementary School, 4345 Campus Ave., which will be completed by fall. Improvements include a 1.6-acre irrigated turf multipurpose field, a .25-acre perimeter walkway, fencing and an accessible pathway into the field from the corner of Meade Avenue and Park Boulevard.u