Project to be completed by this fall

A couple of weeks ago, Sam Ellis, Denison Parks & Rec director, was having a bad Monday, a day in which nothing seemed to be going smoothly.

Then he received word that the Iowa West Foundation was awarding a $55,000 grant for the all-inclusive playground planned for Washington Park.

“It was just terrific news, knowing that someone sees what we see in the same project, and I was just blown away by the amount,” said Ellis. “It was a bad Monday until that happened, and it just made it a great day.”

Ellis received help in writing the grant from City Manager Jessica Garcia and City Clerk Jodie Flaherty, who have more experience in grant writing.

Grants, like the one from the Iowa West Foundation, plus donations, are lowering the City of Denison’s overall $1.3 million projected expense for the all-inclusive playground. That figure covers the equipment and its installation and the site work and the playground surface.

Ellis said WESCO Industries has pledged $40,000 toward the project. He added that the Monogram Loves Kids Foundation awarded the project a $10,000 grant and Casey’s General Store awarded a $1,000 grant.

When speaking to the Denison Rotary Club last week Thursday, Ellis said that the project had received $120,000 in donations and pledges so far, not including the Iowa West Foundation grant.

He said private donations to the playground have been made all the way from $25 to around $500. He added that a fundraiser run by ID Apparel brought in $1,700 for the project. Other small fundraisers have added to the total collected so far.

“Every little bit adds up,” said Ellis.

Garcia told Rotary Club members that to keep costs as low as possible, workers with the Denison Public Works Department will do as much of the preparatory work as possible, including removing all the sidewalk that needs to be removed and doing some excavating work.

People and businesses interested in making a donation or pledge can stop at the Denison Aquatic Center or stop in at Denison City Hall or call the aquatic center at 712-263-8310 or city hall at 712-263-3143.

The all-inclusive playground at Washington Park will be the only one of its kind in the area, except for a small all-inclusive playground in Carroll. The nearest large all-inclusive playground is in Council Bluffs, Ellis said.

“What excites me about the playground is I think it is going to bring the community even closer together,” Ellis told The Denison Free Press. “It’s for everybody. Anyone can play on it. It’s for all abilities.”

At the Rotary Club meeting, Ellis said the playground will attract people from throughout Crawford County and from neighboring counties.

“If you’ve seen renderings of the playground, you can’t look at it and not be amazed by it. It’s got a little bit of everything. It will be good for Denison, a jewel of our park system,” he said.

“My favorite part about this is being able to talk about what all-inclusive means to the kids when we do presentations,” Ellis told The Denison Free Press, “just giving them a little bit of knowledge on what this is for and letting the community know what it’s for, too. It’s going to be something we’ll be extremely proud of.”

He added, “The most exciting part of this for me is there won’t be limitations on playground equipment. You see it, you can play on it.”

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Ellis spoke at the Rotary meeting about the timeline for the all-inclusive playground project. It will be completed this fall.

He added that September is a good guideline for the playground to be done but also said he had hoped it could be done in August for the start of the school year. Students from Broadway Elementary School have been using Washington Park for recess as the school’s playground is unavailable while an addition to the building is being constructed.

The playground equipment has been ordered from AB Creative, a company based in DeSoto, Kansas. AB Creative will also install the equipment.

In June, bidding documents will go out to contractors for the site and playground surface work. Prior to that, as soon as the weather permits, Denison Public Works Department will start the site preparation.

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