YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Austintown Township Park has new playground designed with an eye toward safety. 

The base of the play area, which used to be pea gravel, has now been replaced with a mulch-like material. 

According to Austintown Trustee Jim Davis, kids would throw the gravel around the playground and down the slides.

Children would also fall off the swings and land on hard gravel. 

The easily movable gravel was also clogged the nearby splashpad.

Davis also points out a concrete barricade has been constructed around the splashpad to prevent clogs and to keep the water from draining into the surrounding grass, creating muddy conditions.  

Together, the two additions cost roughly $90,000.   

Davis also says there is something for those who are young at heart. 

An existing tennis court has been converted into two pickle ball courts for members of the senior community.

Pickle ball only uses about half the space of one tennis court, so the players don't have to move as much.

Pickle ball is a form of tennis and paddle ball that can be played with two to four players.