Riverview Park playground opens Saturday

A much-awaited playground will open in Melbourne this weekend.

The first phase in a complete overhaul of the 16-acre Riverview Park, the state-of-the-art playground will welcome its first batch of kids Saturday at 11 a.m. for a special kick-off event.

Funded by a federal Community Development Block Grant, the $190,377 playground broke ground in July after unanimous approval from the city council in April. The playground is the first drop in the bucket of a $6.4 million master plan renovation of the park approved in 2014.

Riverview Park playground groundbreaking is Tuesday

Purchased from Brevard County in 2012, the finished park will include a children's splash park, fishing pier, riverfront observation tower, disc golf field and roundabout park entrance. The city expects to complete installation of shade canopies, renovate the pavilion and restore the shoreline by the end of 2016.

“A restored and improved park will be a community asset and a special place of play once again for local families and visiting guests,” said Melbourne Parks, Recreation & Golf Director, Kevin Briski.

Contact Glenn at caglenn@floridatoday.com or 321-576-5933, and follow her on Twitter @bycarolineglenn and like "Education at Florida Today" on Facebook. Rick Neale contributed to this report.

Kick-off event details

Where: 2400 Riverview Drive

When: Saturday, Oct. 22, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

For more information, visit playmelbournefl.org/our-projects/riverview-park-revitalization/.