The Child Development Lab has welcomed a new playground outside Gabel Hall fit for infants and toddlers.

The new playground comes after vandals caused nearly $2,500 in damage to the old equipment last year on two separate occasions. The top of a plastic treehouse had been ripped from the bottom and hoisted over a 4-foot fence. The top was later found in the river.

The playground has been remodeled and re-equipped and now includes an 8-foot-tall chain-link fence surrounding a 31,000 square-foot-area. About $28,000 has been spent on the project so far.

The new playground is up-to-date on the Americans with Disabilities Act and is now wheel-chair accessible to children.

NIU’s Child Development Laboratory is an operation of the School of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences, located in the Collee of Health and Human Sciences.

The lab is licensed to care for 47 children ages 6 weeks to 7-years-old.