North Tonawanda Dept. of Youth, Recreation & Parks
Register Now

News: City Awarded Playground Grant

Date Published Author
5/13/2019 12:00:00 AM  Alex Domaradzki 

New playspace comes to Mayor's Park




The City of North Tonawanda has been awarded a Build It With KaBOOM! Playground Grant which will bring a 5,000 square foot playground to Mayors Park located off Sweeney Street and Dimatteo Drive.

The grant, funded by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York’s “Blue Fund” and KaBOOM! brings a one of a kind opportunity to the City which encourages the community to play a role in financial support, design of the playground, and the actual construction of the playground.

 
Design Day is the first meeting that brings the community together to plan out all aspects of the project and to factor in the ideas from the kids who will benefit from the new playspace.  On Monday May 13 kids will meet at the Rec Center (383 Vandervoort Street) at 4:30pm to design their dream playground, and adults and community members will participate in a planning meeting from 5:30-8:30pm to incorporate the kid’s designs as they work to determine the final design and layout of the new 5,000 square foot playground.

While the design is being finalized, the community will rally to financially support a small portion of this large scale project, pushing to raise $3,500 of the $8,500 matching requirement for a project that is believed to be well over $120,000 in cost.  The City will provide $5,000 towards the matching requirement, in addition to in-kind costs related to the project.

Once the project design is finalized, and the funds have been raised, the community will come together on Saturday July 27 for a Build Day, as 200 volunteers will be assembled to erect the playground and put some final touches on the play area. 

This project in North Tonawanda is part of a broader, collective effort to help restore and create safe spaces for kids to play in neighborhoods across Western New York, and also Southeast Michigan, as part of the Built to Play Initiative, which was funded by the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation and is intended to give more kids opportunities for free play in an area of the city the is currently underserved in regards to outdoor play opportunities. The underutilized open area of Mayor Park is the perfect location to build new, safe and creative play experience for kids living in this community as well as a draw other participants to come and enjoy the play space and other amenities the park offers including fishing, a bike path, and pavilions perfect for family use.
 
For more information on the project, or to register to be a part of Design Day or Build Day, head to www.ntyouthcenter.com/playground.  Due to limited space, participants for Design Day must pre-register to be a part. 

Click here to give financially to this project.  All funds over the $3,500 community goal will go towards further beautification of the playspace and park amenities.