Volunteers Sought For Limitless Park Community Build
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
WINONA LAKE – If it takes a village to raise a child, imagine how quickly a town can put together playground equipment. The Winona Lake Limitless Park Community Build is scheduled for April 22 and 23. “The number one thing was to get the community involved. It’s a community-driven project so that’s what we were really going for,” Winona Lake Limitless Park Director Holly Hummitch said Thursday. She said the costs of the community build itself are very minimal at only $3,400, versus installation costs, which could be “way more than that.” But the costs weren’t the main thing, she said, it was getting the community involved. “It’s not a very common thing, not around here at least, a way to dive in and get hands-on in a lot of things. It’s a cool way to get involved,” Hummitch said. It all starts at 11 a.m. Friday with initial site prep. Volunteers will dig foundation holes, unpack and unwrap equipment and other pre-construction prep work. Hummitch said Matt Podlin and an associate from Sinclair Recreation, a supplier of GameTime equipment of Holland, Mich., will be on hand to run the community build. Snacks for volunteers will be provided. “The more hands we have on Friday for prep work, the more prepared we can be for Saturday,” she said. Saturday starts at 8 a.m. with an initial meeting in a tent, and then people will be split into groups with their appropriate job assignments and tools. “One thing we want to convey is that you don’t need to be there at 8 a.m. and stay the whole day. You can come and go as you please. If you show up, we will find something for you to do,” Hummitch said. If a person shows up later in the day, they can stop by the tent first to be put to work. “It’s very well organized,” Hummitch said, and no experience or special skills is required. The construction will take place until it’s completed, which is expected to be by 5 p.m. April 23. Breakfast and lunch will be provided for volunteers. Once the construction is over, the concrete company should arrive to pour concrete into the holes and finish the work. “A lot of people were concerned with safety – if the community is building this, is it going to be safe? Absolutely. At the very end, (Sinclair Recreation) will go back and do a complete inspection and sign off on everything before it’s complete,” Hummitch stated. The equipment which was replaced lasted 20 years, she said. The new playground equipment was purchased last year and includes slides, ramps and climbing structures. Funding for it came through grants, donations and the Winona Lake Town Council chipped in $10,000. “We took advantage of a grant through GameTime – it was 50 percent off. Being that we were able to purchase the equipment at such a discounted price, we kind of just jumped right on it,” Hummitch said. “We took advantage of (Winona Lake’s contribution) and were able to purchase it. We had to purchase it by a deadline, so that’s why we did it when we did it.” Metzger Trucking picked the equipment up to help save on shipping costs, keeping it in storage for a while for the park department. It then delivered the equipment to the Winona Park parking lot in January.
