District 6 Alderman Tony Thomas joined City staff and neighborhood residents and children on Monday afternoon to open a new playground at the Crusader Park Neighborhood Center on Savannah’s Southside.

“It’s these types of improvements that are crucial to our neighborhood vitality, and give our youth other forms of positive activities,” Alderman Thomas said.

The Crusader Park Playground is one of half a dozen playground improvements constructed by the City across Savannah this year. In all, the City of Savannah maintains 57 different playgrounds, in addition to nearly 500 acres of parks and more than a dozen community centers.

The expansion is part of a broader effort to improve the health of Savannah’s residents by making the community more bicycle friendly, educating the public about healthy eating, reducing the number of uninsured children, and increasing access to play opportunities. For its efforts, Savannah has been named a “Playful City USA” by the nonprofit KaBOOM! organization.