Town Meeting voters on Monday approved spending $220,000 to fund a new playground for the Shangri La neighborhood as well as $40,000 to create five new soccer fields in West Wareham.

Each year, the Community Preservation Committee awards money to projects through the Community Preservation Act in four categories: open space, historic preservation, affordable housing and recreation. The money is raised through a 3 percent surcharge on property tax bills. Spending the funds must be approved at Town Meeting.

The $220,000 request would support creating a new playground located at 10 Peaceful Ln. 

The existing playground frequently floods and has almost no equipment, as the majority was removed after being deemed unsafe.

The playground would be expanded to 100 feet square, and include many play structures intended to serve children from ages two to 12: a three seat swing set for toddlers with one ADA swing, a merry-go-round, a net for climbing, and a four seat see-saw. The basketball court would be moved to face north to south with new hoops. The playground would also get benches and picnic tables, some of which would be under a pavilion. 

Town Administrator Derek Sullivan thanked Carol Malonson, a member of the Neighborhood Watch and Playground Committee who spearheaded the project, for her hard work. 

“If you have been to Shangri La, you have seen what that playground has become, you know that there is a need to do something,” said Sullivan. 

The playground would also comply with the new rules about accessibility: The whole perimeter would have a walkway of hard-top or rubber matting, and there would be matting paths up to each structure to make the playground accessible to people in wheelchairs. The drainage issues would be fixed.

The current protections for the playground — a gate that is locked at night and security cameras that feed to the fire station and Police Station — would stay in place. Boulders would be added to prevent someone from unintentionally driving off the driveway and onto the playground.

Another grant of $40,000 will bring the Wareham Youth Soccer Club five new soccer fields on the Westfield property at 98 Charlotte Furnace Rd. in West Wareham. The club has raised an additional $30,000 for the project.

“The Youth Soccer club is doing a fantastic job for children in this community,” said Sullivan. 

Currently, the Soccer Club plays at the Decas School. Softball teams use some of the fields at Westfield. The funds would also be used to create a new parking lot and to purchase goals, other miscellaneous equipment, and a storage shed.

One hundred forty-three people voted in favor of the playground with 3 opposing the project. For the soccer fields, 167 voted in favor and 12 opposed the project.