Community Corner
Fundraising Campaign Starts For All Abilities Playground At Heather Farm Park
The $1.2 million facility will replace the current playground at the centrally located park in Walnut Creek
Buy a brick and help build a new all abilities playground at Heather Farm Park.
The Walnut Creek Civic Pride Foundation has begun a fundraising campaign to help pay for the $1.2 million playground.
The new 30,000-square-foot facility will replace the current playground near the Clarke Memorial Swim Center.
Contra Costa County park funds are paying for almost $500,000 of the project. Money from Measure WW park funds is taking care another $350,000. The city is allocating $75,000 of its park funds.
That leaves $320,000 to be raised in private donations.
Sandra Jacobsen, a member of the pride foundation board, said the response has been good so far.
In fact, the group bumped its fundraising goal to help pay for shock-absorbent, resilient pathways and surface beneath play structures.
To raise the extra money, the foundation is selling commemorative bricks for the playground's entrance. The bricks come in two sizes, one for $100 and one for $250.
The Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation is also providing matching grants.
The bricks are in addition to a donor wall and other fundraising mechanisms.
Jacobsen said the current playground is not up to today's codes and is in need of repair and/or replacement.
"This is a great opportunity to do this right," she said.
The new playground will feature structures and other amenities for children of all ages and abilities.
There will be a play area for preschool age children as well as elementary school children.
In addition, there will be a free-play climbing hill, a traditional sand play area, an accessible "pull along" and a climb wall, among other things.
Structures and equipment will have wide ramps, making it easier for children with disabilities to use the playground.
Jacobsen said the new playground will be a regional resource, attracting families from all around the area.
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