Tuesday, March 18, 2003
Features
Kids' ideas will be inspiration for future playground
BY AMY OLSON, Journal Times, 3/18/03
RACINE -- In his mind's eye, Bob Oertel envisions a playground at North Beach Park that could feature a partially sunken pirate galleon or an old-fashioned sailing ship.
But that vision could change based on input from hundreds of youngsters, who will get a say in what the proposed playground will look like and what it will eventually be named.
Oertel is part of a group of adults leading the charge to construct a community-built playground at North Beach Park that could be built this fall with input from the consumers themselves: The kids.
With the location near the lake, the adults envision the possibility of having a nautical theme.
"The kids might change that. We don't want to do much coaching," he said.
Fellow organizer Stephen Smiley said the North Beach Playground group got the idea for the project in part after seeing the popularity of the Kids Connection playground in Franksville that was built in October 2000 at the Caledonia-Mount Pleasant Memorial Park.
"It was such a success," Smiley said.
Jackie Kortendick and Jennifer Rohleder, who live near North Beach, think a similar playground in Racine would be a hit, too.
On Monday afternoon, the two women spent time talking while their children played at Kids Connection, going down the slides and playing in the sand.
"I think they should have one in every community," Rohleder said.
Kortendick, Rohleder and their friend, Tracy Risch, who drove all the way from Kenosha for the play date, say they like the fact that the playground is enclosed, giving their children a safe place to play.
"With the beach there, it would be the best of both worlds," Kortendick said.
Smiley and Oertel say they hope the playground will draw more users to the park.
"It's one of the best beaches on this side of the lake," Smiley said, noting it rarely gets used because the beach is frequently closed because of pollution problems.
The proposed playground will measure 20,000 square feet, similar in size to Kids Connection. The group's first choice of location is in the southern corner of the park, near the sand dunes. The second choice is the site of the current playground.
The group is working with Leathers and Associates, a design firm in based in Ithaca, N.Y. Over the last 30 years, the firm has designed more than 1,600 community-built playgrounds, each created with input from children. Many reflect the character of the community. For example, in the small fishing village of Lubec, Maine, located in the easternmost tip of the United States, the community-built playground features a human-sized lobster trap, symbolic of the region's economy. Others feature more whimsical childhood fantasies, like the castle and partially sunken tug boat in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In Racine, children at Red Apple and Janes schools will get a chance to give their input to a designer on May 20. Oertel said from those suggestions, the designer will sketch out tentative plans that will be unveiled at a community meeting that night.
The group hopes to raise $200,000 from corporations, charitable foundations and individual donations. Smiley estimates the project will cost $180,000; the group would put $20,000 into an account for maintenance and repairs. So far, Sustainable Racine has contributed $13,000 to help offset the design costs.
If all goes according to plan, construction could start in late October and be completed within a week.
The group is trying to notify neighbors in the immediate area about the project with fliers to gain financial and moral support. So far, the two dozen or so responses the group has gotten back have been in favor of the project by a ratio of 6 to 1, Oertel said.
Organizers hope the construction experience as being like an old-fashioned barn raising, bringing together volunteers who might never have met.
Smiley hopes that community-building will extend well beyond construction by bringing children of the diverse neighborhood together. She notes that when kids play together, they become more tolerant.
"Hopefully, a playground can help catalyze that," he said.
Oertel agreed, adding he hopes people will take ownership for the playground.
"This (won't be) something the city did for them. It's something they did for themselves," he said.
But that vision could change based on input from hundreds of youngsters, who will get a say in what the proposed playground will look like and what it will eventually be named.
Oertel is part of a group of adults leading the charge to construct a community-built playground at North Beach Park that could be built this fall with input from the consumers themselves: The kids.
With the location near the lake, the adults envision the possibility of having a nautical theme.
"The kids might change that. We don't want to do much coaching," he said.
Fellow organizer Stephen Smiley said the North Beach Playground group got the idea for the project in part after seeing the popularity of the Kids Connection playground in Franksville that was built in October 2000 at the Caledonia-Mount Pleasant Memorial Park.
"It was such a success," Smiley said.
Jackie Kortendick and Jennifer Rohleder, who live near North Beach, think a similar playground in Racine would be a hit, too.
On Monday afternoon, the two women spent time talking while their children played at Kids Connection, going down the slides and playing in the sand.
"I think they should have one in every community," Rohleder said.
Kortendick, Rohleder and their friend, Tracy Risch, who drove all the way from Kenosha for the play date, say they like the fact that the playground is enclosed, giving their children a safe place to play.
"With the beach there, it would be the best of both worlds," Kortendick said.
Smiley and Oertel say they hope the playground will draw more users to the park.
"It's one of the best beaches on this side of the lake," Smiley said, noting it rarely gets used because the beach is frequently closed because of pollution problems.
The proposed playground will measure 20,000 square feet, similar in size to Kids Connection. The group's first choice of location is in the southern corner of the park, near the sand dunes. The second choice is the site of the current playground.
The group is working with Leathers and Associates, a design firm in based in Ithaca, N.Y. Over the last 30 years, the firm has designed more than 1,600 community-built playgrounds, each created with input from children. Many reflect the character of the community. For example, in the small fishing village of Lubec, Maine, located in the easternmost tip of the United States, the community-built playground features a human-sized lobster trap, symbolic of the region's economy. Others feature more whimsical childhood fantasies, like the castle and partially sunken tug boat in Cincinnati, Ohio.
In Racine, children at Red Apple and Janes schools will get a chance to give their input to a designer on May 20. Oertel said from those suggestions, the designer will sketch out tentative plans that will be unveiled at a community meeting that night.
The group hopes to raise $200,000 from corporations, charitable foundations and individual donations. Smiley estimates the project will cost $180,000; the group would put $20,000 into an account for maintenance and repairs. So far, Sustainable Racine has contributed $13,000 to help offset the design costs.
If all goes according to plan, construction could start in late October and be completed within a week.
The group is trying to notify neighbors in the immediate area about the project with fliers to gain financial and moral support. So far, the two dozen or so responses the group has gotten back have been in favor of the project by a ratio of 6 to 1, Oertel said.
Organizers hope the construction experience as being like an old-fashioned barn raising, bringing together volunteers who might never have met.
Smiley hopes that community-building will extend well beyond construction by bringing children of the diverse neighborhood together. She notes that when kids play together, they become more tolerant.
"Hopefully, a playground can help catalyze that," he said.
Oertel agreed, adding he hopes people will take ownership for the playground.
"This (won't be) something the city did for them. It's something they did for themselves," he said.
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