Kids get in, but fund-raising work remains at North Beach playground

By Pete Wicklund

Monday, October 27, 2003 10:57 AM CST

RACINE - Cool, damp fall weather and gray skies could not quell the enthusiasm of the first children who waited patiently Sunday afternoon to try out the new Kids Cove playground at North Beach.

At 5:25 p.m., nearly an hour and a half after the new 22,000-square-foot play area for kids ages 5-12 was supposed to open, Jane Finkenbein, 38, grabbed a bullhorn to make the official announcement.

"Are you ready to play?" Finkenbien, chair of the North Beach Playground organization's children's committee, asked the youngsters who were held at bay by a snow fence barrier. The affirmative answer was deafening.

As late as 4 p.m. Sunday, the thought of opening the playground seemed an impossibility, with scores of volunteers making last-minute installations and adjustments. Tools were scattered everywhere, and extension cords draped the wood and hard plastic components of the playground as the sounds of circular saws slicing planks filled the air.

In a playground with a nautical theme selected by children, the construction site was a sea of chilled and frantic humanity.

In fact, the late-afternoon inspection by children was just a temporary allowance. Kids Cove will be closed today as crews take one more day to check punch list items and make sure all safety features are in place, said Stephen Smiley, co-chairman of the North Beach Playground Group, the nonprofit group that planned the playground

construction.

And while play will be allowed in the next couple of days, Smiley said work will actually continue to a lesser extent at the site for the next couple of weeks.

"It's so big, with so many features and components, thinking it was a six-day build was really an ambitious goal," said Rob Kohlhagen, co-chairman of the playground organization's fundraising committee.

The playground's pavilion is an example of an area still requiring some attention. On Sunday, it was still in the rough frame stages. That area eventually will feature educational displays about Lake Michigan and the North Beach dunes and also will showcase tiles that pay tribute to those who contributed to the quarter of a million dollar project.

"If it looks like we have this all paid for, that's another urban legend," said Bob Oertel, cochairman of the playground group. "We can still use donations."

While an impressive $220,000 has already been raised for materials needed for the project, Smiley estimates about $15,000 is still needed.

Those wanting to contribute and have their donation recognized with a commemorative tile, brick or fence picket, can visit the playground group's Web site, www.northbeachplayground.org, or call (262) 636-3261, 681-9346 or 554-3647.

The price for the playground would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars more if volunteers had not provided the manpower for the project. An estimated 2,000 volunteers came forth over the course of the last six days to lend a hand. Their ranks came from corporations, civic organizations and

passers-by.

"I'm totally amazed, overwhelmed and stunned by the number of people who have come up and say they would volunteer," said Smiley. "I'm speechless about how people have risen to the occasion and the challenge."

Smiley also was appreciative of how local businesses have helped with the project, from donating tools and materials to opening up special this weekend to provide lumber and even to build

brackets.

Kohlhagen noted how local artists also came forth with design patterns that brought color and creativity to the playground infrastructure.

"It's not just swings and slides," Kohlhagen said, "It takes Lake Michigan and the beach and through the nautical theme brings it all together. So it's really been fun, but it's also added a lot of work."

Smiley said the initial blueprint for the playground came after consultation with kids, who expressed the desire to see a lighthouse, sunken pirate ship and large fish to run through incorporated into the design.

Kids also named the playground through a contest in which over 300 Racine are elementary school students suggested names. Four winners who came up with the Kids Cove name were honored with a limousine ride to McDonald's for dinner Sunday afternoon, then driven with police escort to the Kids Cove site.

One of those winners, Jenna Contreras, 8, also had the privilege of watching her uncle, Billy Contreras, 40, sing the national anthem at Sunday's opening

ceremony.

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