Dozens of excited children gathered at City Park in downtown Edmonds Tuesday morning to watch as the ribbon was officially cut for the park’s new playground equipment. But the kids were just as thrilled to meet the mayor as they were to play on the playground.

“This is what makes the job worthwhile,” Mayor Dave Earling said as several children approached him following the ribbon-cutting ceremony that marked the official opening of the new project, which includes separate play areas for toddlers and older kids.

According to City Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Manager Carrie Hite, the playground equipment installation is the first of a two-part upgrade for the play area. Next May, the city plans to unveil a new “sprayground” water featured directly east of the new play equpiment. The sprayground will feature three areas, Hite said — one for toddlers, one for families and one for older kids — and will include an environmentally-friendly water recirculation system.

WATCH HERE: Carrie Hite explains what is planned for next spring’s “sprayground” in this 1-minute video on My Edmonds News TV.

As we covered in our earlier story, the city’s Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Department used a “Community Build” model last month to install a new playground at the park, located at 3rd and Howell, that involved more than100 volunteers over a three-day period. Among those cutting the ribbon Tuesday was one of those volunteer leaders, Richard Marin, a member of the Shoreline Stake of Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints. A past Edmonds City Councilmember, Marin leads the Shoreline stake’s annual “Day of Service” committee.

The project was funded by $500,000 from the city, a $500,000 matching grant from the Washington State Recreation Conservation Office and $80,000 from Snohomish County, plus $270,000 toward the spray park from the Hazel Miller Foundation.