Jim Thorpe Borough officials said Thursday night that the municipality is looking to alter the scope of the first two phases of an upcoming Memorial Park improvement project.

Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said a change to the first phase of the project would remove a planned exercise area and add a “multigenerational gathering space” for ages 12 and up.

“What we heard from some of the older kids is that they wanted a place to sit and talk and hang out,” Sterner said. “So we’re looking at some type of shade structure with a charging station. We’ll also have some picnic tables over there and we may move the metal swings as well.”

The borough received a combined $287,000 for Phase 1 of the project from three different sources including the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and Department of Community and Economic Development.

That phase also includes new playground equipment for children in the 2- to 5-year-old age range.

Phase two, Sterner said, will now feature lighting upgrades to enhance safety and allow for the expansion of the “Trees in the Park” program at the holidays.

The municipality was awarded $171,000 for Phase 2 of the project courtesy of a state DCNR recreation grant.

“The phase one changes were $14,000 over the grant amount, while phase two is $20,000 under the grant amount,” Sterner said. “We’ll have to review what we have and speak with all our grant sources to determine how we can include items so we have things evened out.”

The borough plans to utilize its existing light posts in the park to the best extent it can, but Sterner said Thursday it could look at adding bollard lights with the same type of look if more are needed.

“We have a lot of great events in the park,” Council President Greg Strubinger said. “We just had National Night Out and the Christmas trees were very nice over there. I think anything we can do to improve the lighting is a positive.”