McBee Mayor Glenn Odom said in a phone interview that Kaplan — based in Lewisville, NC — will provide a “whole turnkey” solution, designing the playground and providing and installing the equipment, including swings and a train play set.

The public playground will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. “We’ll have swings for kids in wheelchairs,” Odom said.

The playground will be located in the McBee Recreation Complex at 465 S. 11th St., across from McBee Elementary School. “The young kids do not have access to a playground,” Odom said. “They’re going to be able to walk across the street to this playground and utilize it.”

The town raised $126,000 from the community to match a federal grant from the US Land and Water Conservation Fund. Odom said the largest donors were Primo Brands Corp. and Alligator Rural Water Sewer Co. Inc., which both donated $30,000. Primo operates the Deer Park bottling plant at 100 Nestle Way in McBee, while Alligator Rural Water sells Primo the water, Odom said.

Toronto-based Cyclic Materials, which is investing more than $82 million in a facility adjacent to Deer Park, donated $5,000 for playground equipment.

“We probably worked on it for six months, trying to raise the money,” Odom said. “We were awarded [the grant] last year, and to get our feet up under it took a while.

“We had a good committee that’s dedicated to it,” he said.