| Author | Message | ||
| Cindy Delena
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I was so pleased to read your article on the Play Escape and find that others also have concern for the current disposition of the playground. It was such a miracle of God for the community how it all came together in the first place. I don't have time to tell ALL of the miracles but I will allow two. 1) Despite many fundraising efforts, we only had 40% of the money needed up to 3 weeks before the build was scheduled and 2) Despite the worst weather I can remember in September (rainy and 48-52 degrees) almost every day of the 8-day build, we had enough dedicated volunteers to get the job done. Revival Tabernacle has been dedicated to maintenance of the playground with trash pick-up three times a week, grass cutting and graffiti removal and even a community-wide clean-up day in June planned with HIghland Park Weed and Seed which cleaned every inch of that park and the alleys! We were winning the battle until several major vandalism cases this summer. First of all, some kids ripped down the 3 inch metal basketball rim, backboard, pole and all - not an easy job. Then, they (I assumed it was the same kids) tore down the $5,000 sign kiosk that proudly announced our park and its sponsors in vibrant colors and provided seating. Lastly, which really let all the remaining wind out of my sails, was the complete splitting of one of the support beams for the swings, removal of large sections of the wooden gate and the spray paint on top of two of the castle peaks. I did make contact with the Wayne County Sheriffs to inform them of these vandalism acts - since in my mind they were done with malicious intent - not just some kids writing their names in the wood for old times sake. They pledged to make more rounds and to date, I have not seen much more vandalism with malicious intent. I, also, took my two small children to the Play Escape this summer, and met several other mothers from the church there. We did the same as you and constantly picked up glass while watching our kids play. I am amazed at the amount of glass and cannot imagine how it accumulates so quickly. I would like to rededicate my efforts to clear some of the suggested items on your list and am open to suggestions for further ideas: 1) re: maintenance. I will provide the Barber School with a maintenance request form that they can fax to the church when they are made aware of needed repairs. Community residents can e-mail me at our church web-site www.revivaltab.org. Please, however, keep in mind that the city is the owner of the property and we are only trying to maintain it for general use while the city has limited resources. We are not ourselves liable. 2) re: fences. I spent several thousand to repair and replace fence partitions that were subsequently cut within 2 weeks because children are used to cut-throughs and did not want to walk around to the fence opening. Perhaps doors in the future if we determine this is a needed expenditure. 3) re: security lights - I will contact Barber School and see if they can turn on or fix the small one above the school. We have toyed with better lighting in the past with Play Escape funds - but it is pricey and complicated. I guess I still need to ponder this one to completely answer it. 4) re:police cruising. I have already made them aware as indicated above. I will make another call to see if further action can be taken in the future. 5) re: warning signs. I can put these up, but they are hard to enforce without kids letting us know who is doing this or catching them in the act. I certainly would hope to prosecute/enforce restitution and community service for those who did the current vandalism. The city, as owner, would have to pursue this. 6) re: neighbors. I would hope that they would call the police (911) when they see any acts of vandalism transpiring. The community neighbors are those who poured their money, blood, sweat and tears into the building of the Play Escape. The kids of the school designed the playground and even named the playground. All of that was designed so that the community would feel it was THEIR PLAYGROUND and would fight to maintain it. Initially, the teachers of Barber made the kids pick up after themselves on recess because it was so clean and new. I am unaware of any change in that policy except to say that the further we let the playground deteriorate, the less incentive for the kids to pick up after themselves! 7) re: community. This spring, we hope to partner with Highland Park Weed & Seed to refurbish the baseball diamond and start a t-ball league, to install new basketball rims (already purchased with Play Escape monies) and to build a nicer entrance (sign, seating, landscape) at the end of Buena Vista court to make the park feel more "together" and not just a playground in the corner. Hopefully, with more of the overall park used, more neighbors will participate in keeping it clean. A Detroit architectural firm, Gunn-Levine, was kind enough to volunteer their services to draw up some sketches so that we can move forward with this. We will also have another community-wide clean-up the day after school gets out at Barber in June 2004. Maybe someone knows a non-profit that does the old "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" Woodsy the Owl presentations - they were effective in my generation anyway! Any other suggestions would be appreciated!!! As you can see, I feel very passionately about this park and am dedicated to helping as best I can. I apologize for the delay in fixing some of the vandalism - I just became overwhelmed by more than $10,000 in damages within a two-month period - and procrastinated until the weather has added another delay. Thanks for letting me know that I was not the only one in despair! God Bless You, Cindy Dilena, Revival Tabernacle church member and community resident P.S. Should we knock down the ugly fencing around the basketball court - or leave it so the games are contained (meaning they are not chasing basketballs around the park!) - any thoughts? | ||
| Stephen Goodfellow
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Hi Cindy, Thanks to you for your detailed update and for all the hard community work your church does for our community. Please let me know what upcoming projects are in the works for the playground. Me and my wife would like to help out. |
