AUBURN – At the new Park Avenue school, there is glistening new playground equipment with funky, cool stuff.

It’s calling to youngsters, and their parents, to come and play.

But the $100,000-plus playground is off limits until Aug. 30, the first day of school, Principal Vickie Gaylord said.

The reason: the ground around the playground has been seeded with grass. It needs time to grow. If the grass isn’t allowed to grow, the land will likely stay muddy forever, Gaylord said. And it’s not possible to reach some of the equipment without walking on the ground seeded with grass.

So, several weeks ago “No trespassing” signs went up, as did bright orange fences.

Still, some parents have trespassed with their kids, allowing them to play.

Gaylord has confronted a few of them, asking is there a way she could make it any clearer they’re not to be there yet.

No, the parents have confessed. Their kids just wanted to play.

When Gaylord explains the reasons and that the stay-away signs are temporary, parents understand, she said.

“It’s been very hard telling people no,” Gaylord said. “I can’t wait for the kids to be able to use this.”

There are treehouses, swirvey slides, jungle gyms, rock climbing walls, a merry-go-round, equipment that twirls kids around and swings.

To build the playground volunteers worked for a year raising $43,000 through bottle drives, spaghetti dinners and door-to-door appeals. The remaining money came from $35,000 in the school budget, plus a $32,000 grant, Gaylord said.

Just 12 more days.

– Bonnie Washuk