North Beach site

By Lee B. Roberts

Wednesday, August 27, 2003 9:59 AM CDT

RACINE � A sigh of relief was breathed at North Beach Park Tuesday afternoon, as organizers of the North Beach Playground Project received good news. They were told that the beachfront site upon which they have chosen to build the playground will work.

The group, which plans to construct a 20,000-square-foot, community-built playground on the stretch of sand just east of North Beach's south parking lot, got the OK from Doug Hanauer, a construction consultant with Leathers & Associates, the design firm which is drawing up the plans for the playground. Hanauer came here from Ithaca, N.Y., for a daylong series of meetings with project volunteers and representatives from the city, We Energies, Sustainable Racine, and other organizations involved in making this communitywide project come to life.

The purpose of his visit was to receive a progress report.

"He's here to tell us how we're doing � to point out areas where we need to apply more effort and to let us know where we are doing OK," said Bob Oertel, one of the originators of the playground project.

The beach site the group has chosen will create a few more challenges for the build than some others, Hanauer said, but added that it is definitely workable.

"This is a very cool spot. I had no idea you had such a beautiful beach when I was here in October," said Hanauer, who also had a hand in constructing the Kids Connection playground in Franksville. His company's design for the new playground, which was developed with the help of students at Red Apple and Janes elementary schools, reflects its beachfront location with lots of nautical touches.

The two biggest challenges the site presents are some grading that will be required by its duned landscape and the difficulty that comes with digging down into sand. Those present at Tuesday's meeting talked about several options for preventing the sand from collapsing into the 250 holes that will have to be dug for the playground's supports.

At the same time, building on sand will eliminate the need to put drainage stones under the playground's wood chips. And the parking lot adjacent to the beach site will provide an ideal surface for things like prefabricated construction, Hanauer said.

"Having this parking lot here is really a plus," he said. "We don't usually have that kind of luxury."

After touring the site, Hanauer sketched a rough layout of the construction site which will be set up in late October and made suggestions for locating things such as the volunteer sign-in, the food tent, a tool trailer, parking, first aid and childcare. Working with a company that has constructed 2000 custom-designed playgrounds all over the world, Hanauer has a lot of experience in organizing events like this build, which will take place Oct. 20-26 as part of Racine's annual Make A Difference Day.

Hanauer also assured project organizers that he will be here in October to help with construction and see the project through to the end. His expertise and advice was much appreciated by Oertel and Stephen Smiley, who are leading this project.

And all of the ideas that were proposed at the beachfront meeting � from getting electricity and water to the site, to fencing off the construction area for safety � seem doable, said Donnie Snow, director of the Racine Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Department.

From North Beach, Hanauer and others involved in the project went on to Sustainable Racine's Downtown offices where they met in small groups to plan everything that needs to be accomplished between now and Oct. 26.

The biggest hurdle they face right now is getting more volunteers to sign up, Smiley said.

"People power is what makes something like this happen, both from the planning aspect and as far as building the playground goes," he said.

Because the playground's design features a lot of creative touches � such as fish-shaped bench backs, a giant coho salmon bridge and a submarine� it will require a lot of extra hands, Smiley said.

"We are pushing the envelope with this design and we will need a lot of volunteers make it happen," he said.

And with only eight weeks left until construction starts, now is the time for people to make that commitment he said.

"Up until this point we've been jogging," he said. "Now it's time to sprint."

Hanauer, who said he had a ball working on the build in Franksville, said he has faith in the people of Greater Racine.

"The whole idea of building a playground like this to get people involved," he said. "You've got a good history of volunteers working here. Once you get people out here, they'll keep coming back."

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