By Pepper Fisher
PORT ANGELES – The Dream Playground rebuild project in Port Angeles is tentatively scheduled to begin in the third week in May.
Since the playground’s main structures were burned to the ground in the wee hours of December 20, the public has gone from their initial shock to calling for a rebuild as soon as possible, backing their words up with some serious fundraising.
Dream Playground Foundation President Steve Methner says the plan is to rebuild the playground to look just like the old one, and explains the reasoning behind it.
“When a kid goes to the playground with their with their Grandma, they go over to their swing, or they go over to their tunnel, or the place where they play. This is their special spot. And this is their routine. One of the most important things in childhood is routine. And so, we decided that what’s best for kids is speed. So we want to get it done as quickly as we can. And yes, that means we’ll probably have to do it in a very similar way. Because it’s already on the shelf, so we don’t have to go through redesign, or permitting. You know, we can sort of redo the same engineering and everything.”
The estimated cost for the rebuild is $500,000. About half of that is already in place, and more money continues to come in from small fundraisers all around the community. Methner says he’s impressed by the sustained public support to get this project completed.
“There are so many businesses and nonprofits and individuals who have had these great ideas for fundraisers they want to do, and we say, “Great. Please do them.” We don’t really have the horsepower to sort of be, you know, a moment-to-moment partner in those things, because there’s been six or seven of them already. But, people are being really good and understanding about just taking care of it. There’s a community event happening to kind of, you know, get everybody together again at the Field Arts & Events Center, and that’s a movie night for kids. It’s a free movie night. It’s a pajama night. So, kids and everybody, come in your pajamas, and we’ll try to give the community an update. That’s on the 31st of this month. So that’s coming right up.”
Find out more at padreamplayground.org.