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With a donation of $125,000 from Lycoming County, and three additional donations totalling $6,250, the Kids United Community Playground came closer to becoming a reality with the funds received so far at around $360,000 -- just $40,000 shy of the amount needed for the project.
The latest donations were received at a ceremony at Stevens Primary School, near the proposed site for the playground Thursday afternoon.
Jack McKernan, who was on hand with his fellow county commissioners Tony Mussare and Rick Mirabito, to make the donation from the county, told the group that the commissioners are always looking for projects to support through distribution of Act 13 monies which are impact fees collected from the gas companies working in the county.
"Earlier this spring we were at the Kiwanis, their 100th anniversary, and had an opportunity to hear about this and it was really intriguing and caught our attention. And to see that you have both the Kiwanis and the Rotary partnering and working together and bringing in the (Williamsport) school district foundation to assist…it just shows a lot of people coming together," McKernan said.
"We've talked about the importance of putting something like this in for quality of life issues putting it into the part of a community where it's open to everybody. We've also talked about down the road if we can keep the partnership of the service clubs together, to try and duplicate this at other ends of the county," he added.
Spencer Sweeting, a member of the steering committee for the playground, echoed the importance of having sites like the all-inclusive playground in the community.
"For the last number of years, we have been dreaming about creating this playground. One of the things we've come across as we've done research on communities and what helps communities flourish is how do we build healthier and happier communities is that communities that invest in recreation are not only physically healthier, but they're emotionally healthier," he said. "They're just happier places to live. That's one of the most significant by-products of investing in recreation like this."
"We want to see Williamsport be the best possible place to live," Sweeting added.
The proposed playground will be inclusive for all kids of all abilities and backgrounds, according to the committee. It will include poured rubber flooring and accessible ramps for wheelchairs and other assistive devices. Equipment featured at the site will be both traditional as well as structures that encourage cognitive and imaginative play, fitness and instrumental activities, such as sensory panels, conga drums, reflection swing and a max climb summit.
Sweeting said that it's not often mentioned how playgrounds enrich the minds of the kids as they play, learn and imagine together.
"Albert Einstein said that play is the highest form of research. We get to invest in that when we build playgrounds like this," Sweeting said.
In naming the project, Kids United, Sweeting said the hope was that various groups in the community would come together to make it happen.
"This has certainly exceeded our expectations to see the county, the school district, area business leaders. It really is the entire community coming together to build this playground. We think that it's the start of something bigger," he said.