Get ready to KaBOOM!
Published on October 24, 2017
No, this isn’t a recap of the season two episode ‘Kaboom’ on NBC’s hit show Parks & Recreation. This is real life with Huntsville Parks & Recreation!
The Department of Parks & Recreation won a grant last year to build a Let’s Play KaBOOM! playground in the Northwood neighborhood. Let’s Play and KaBOOM! are providing $15,000 in grant money to help get the playground underway, with the Parks & Recreation Department covering the remainder of the costs for equipment and prepping the playground area.
The grant requires the construction of the playground to be part of a community build, and it has to be finished in 1-2 days. The City has provided numerous resources and employees to get the site prepared and the playground built on Friday, October 27, behind the former location of the AAA school. This location immediately serves the Cavalry Hill Community Center, Village of Promise, Greengate School and Boys & Girls Club. It will also be a great addition for families who are out with their children during sporting events at the fields in the back of the complex.
The playground will target ages 5-12 years old and features amenities such as ring climbers, double slides, an inclusive merry-go-round and bucket spinners. Parks & Recreation was able to refurbish the current bays of swing sets in the playground area, adding new chains and swings to include infant and toddler swings.
According to KaBOOM!, playgrounds are particularly important because only one in four kids in the U.S. achieve the recommended daily amount of physical activity. To put that in perspective, in a class of 20 students, only 5 are truly able to be a kid for just one hour each day. In general, children are not getting the recommended amount physical activity through play at home, in schools, nor in their communities.
Play is an equity issue, too. For the 15 million kids living in poverty, play is too hard to come by as their families face many obstacles to play; from a lack of safe places, under-resourced schools that cut recess and physical education, and too much screen time.
Want to help?
Skilled volunteers are welcomed to help build the playground from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, October 27.
Google Fiber will be providing breakfast and lunch for volunteers while Buffalo Rock is providing Pepsi products, as well as shirts for volunteers.
The official ribbon cutting will take place on Monday, October 30 at 4:15 p.m. with Mayor Tommy Battle and Council Member Devyn Keith officially opening the playground. Children are encouraged to attend. The first 60 children at the playground on October 30 for the ribbon cutting will receive t-shirts.
For more information about volunteering please email Ashley Polesak, Public Relations Officer for Parks & Recreation at Ashley.Polesak@HuntsvilleAL.gov.
