In just 18 months, a committee of volunteers raised nearly $50,000 to purchase and install a new piece of playground equipment in Memorial Park, Hillsboro.

The three-tiered structure is easily the new centerpiece of the playground area. It includes a tall, twisting tube slide, a steep, shorter open slide, a climbing wall, and many other features. The landing zone around the structure uses soft rubber mulch instead of sand.

A volunteer Playground Committee raised the money for the new equipment entirely through donations and grants, Hillsboro Recreation Director Doug Sisk said. Although the new equipment is a big accomplishment, the Playground Committee isn’t through yet, he said. They have plans to raise money for another major piece of equipment and to replace the sand around older equipment with rubber mulch.

Ellie Noble, 7, was one of the first children to try out the new equipment after it opened Monday afternoon. She said the big tube slide was her favorite part, because sliding down the steep curves in the dark is exciting.