YOUR FORUM FOR PLAY, SPORTS UND LEISURE AREAS
However the park and its facilities suffered wear and tear over the course of the years and the donations were no longer sufficient to pay for the refurbishment required. It had become time to make improvements to the park and to incorporate it into the Missoula City Parks System. The park was in need of extensive improvements. Because of budgetary cuts, however, the City had not been able for several years to carry out the desired improvements.
For this reason, the volunteers developed a plan in cooperation with the City. The most important priority was to find more new sponsors from the neighbourhood. Their donations could be used to finance new facilities such as tennis courts and picnic sites, as well as a playground.
Kimberly Baker became the go-between between the "Friends of Pineview Park" and the Municipal Parks and Gardens Department. The investment for the facilities was achieved by a couple of thousand sponsors. The most important criterion for the project was to create a particularly durable, eco-friendly playground with the maximum of opportunities for play.
For the younger children Kompan Elements apparatus and three Spinner Bowls were purchased. The older children were given a Galaxy climbing apparatus and a Supernova. Kimberly Baker says, “I’ve never had so much fun with play equipment as I have had with this Supernova. Every time I am at the playground I see children using the Supernova and I see parents who are playing with their children. That makes me very proud. The playground is a wonderful, picturesque setting, where parents and children play together and can experience kinetic energy, physics, centrifugal forces, balance etc. I am so glad that children and their parents in our community have real fun together."
"The children love playing with the centrifugal forces and spinning around. They also like using the Galaxy apparatus and climbing over it like monkeys. I spent half an hour on one occasion watching children playing at being monkeys. One of the children said to me, 'I feel smart when I climb on this' ", states Kimberly Baker.
Children and parents are delighted with the wealth of play opportunities offered by the playground. Thanks to the volunteers' initiative, the park is once more full of life and is making a contribution to the well-being of residents in the city.
