Our speaker was Paul Coats, Director, Lebanon Recreation, Arts, and Parks. He was accompanied by Lauren Groves, Director. Contact Friends of Lebanon Recreation, Arts & Parks (FoLRAP) Board. They joined us to share plans to rebuild the playground at Civic Memorial Park in West Lebanon, behind the SAU #88 office building on Seminary Hill. This park is a very well used park for a variety of sporting events. There had been playground elements at this park but they deteriorated and had to be removed. Plan are underway to raise money to install an accessible playground for children of all abilities.
Paul Coats
Lauren Groves
Paul began is talk acknowledging the rich history the Rotary Club of Lebanon has had supporting the development of parks in Lebanon. He asked how many of us had been by to see the Pavilion at Riverside park since it was painted. He acknowledged that we help prompt the city to get the painting done, and was appreciative of our donation to help make this happen this summer. The new picnic tables we installed have really made the pavilion look a lot better too.
He reflected our Club’s vision of a String of Pearls, adding parks along the Mascoma and Connecticut River in Lebanon. He shared that this terminology is still used by city leaders as they talk about bringing people closer to our rivers via parks and greenways. He thanked us for Harmony Park on the Mall in Lebanon too. He let us know that the repair kit has been ordered for the broken element on in the park and will be installed by parks staff.
He then shifted to talk about what is being planned for Civic Memorial Park. We learned that it is now the most visited park park, especially for sports. It is always programed. Parking spaces are at a premium. It serves hundreds of kids. But for the kids who don’t play sports or those who have disabilities, there isn’t much for them to do at the park. A plan is now in place to establish a new playground to serve kids of all abilities. The plans for the park were finalized after doing focus groups with children to find our what elements they wanted to see in the park.
The park design is part of the Forma Series that uses unique designs, colors for ages 2-5 and 5-12. All elements will be accessible and inclusive.
The most expensive part of the design is the rubberized surface that will be easier for wheelchairs to access than engineered wood fiber. This is picture of the park and then pictures of some of the elements:
Alpine Slide
Multi-Climber
Fortress
In total the playground with site prep will cost $270,000. As of today, the city has $175,000 for this project. In addition $30,000 has been raised through grants and leadership gift. The goal is to work to get the remaining $65,000 for this project. The playground elements have been ordered but cannot be installed until the funds are raised to cover all costs, including the specialized rubberized surface.
We indicated that our Charities Board would review the request for a donation.
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