PORT ANGELES – The re-imagining of the Dream Playground in Port Angeles has been underway for some time now, and the final design will be unveiled Wednesday evening at a special presentation at the Vern Burton Community Center at 6:00pm.
Built in 2002 by more than two thousand volunteers in Erickson Playfield, the playground is now at the end of its lifespan and will be rebuilt in the summer of 2020.
Dream Playground Foundation President Steve Methner tells us their method for designing the playground worked out so well 17 years ago that they’re following the same playbook this time around.
“Not everybody knows, who wasn’t here for the first Dream playground, but the design ideas came from our own school children. And so that worked so well we decided to do it again this time. So this week we are planning with the designer to go to all of the elementary schools where the kids are putting down and drawing their wildest ideas for what they want the coolest playground to look like and then the designer will gather the ideas and put them together over the next several days and then on Wednesday night, we’re going to have a community reveal at the Verne Burton and all kids and all families are invited to come and it’s also where we would like to start gathering signups for people who’d like to help with the construction of the next dream playground and also who might be willing to help with the the planning and the fundraising effort over the next year or so.”
Some of our improvements will include: making the playground out of composite materials, new pour-in-place surfacing, improved ADA accessibility, and better visibility and sightlines for parents watching their children.
If your kids are home schooled or otherwise, they can still be part of the process. Methner says you should go to the website at padreamplayground.org/, take the quick survey, (click here), and your child’s ideas will be included with everyone else’s.
Wednesday’s event from 6:00-8:00pm will include games, music, snacks and refreshments, special guests and more!