Schools

Lincoln School Looks to Community to Help Make Playground Shine

With some improvements made, suddenly the scars and wrinkles on old equipment stand out more. Parents want others who use their playground – or used to – to step and help them make it spiffy again.

The call is going out alumni, neighbors and anyone else inclined to help out .

Give us a little financial assistance, parents say, and we'll give our kids and yours a much better place to play.

When kids and parents returned to classes and recesses last fall, they were pleased to find a playground already much improved.

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The asphalt play surface had been resurfaced and repainted with bright, neat lines for game courts and with a huge map of the United States.

The edge of the play area for younger kids, with its colorful slides, swings and climbers, had also been tidied up with a new concrete curb.

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In installing the new boundary between hard asphalt and soft wood mulch, the play structure area was made a bit larger.

And that got some parents thinking. There was now room for some new, more modern equipment – and it was about time for some of the older pieces to go.

Jen Hardman took on the role of chair of the Playground Committee for the Lincoln Parent Teacher Organization and started assessing what the school had and what it needed or wanted.

"This was put in in 1999," said Hardman, "so it's not crazy old. It has some life in it yet.

"But some of the pieces have some damage, some are showing their age, and some just need to go."

Play pieces beyond their prime

Hardman pointed out a low metal step that had flaked and rusted, and a similarly corroded steel swaying bridge that she wants removed and replaced with something more up to date.

"It isn't the rust, it's safety," she said. "Kids can fall through the railing. It doesn't meet current standards."

There's a piece called "the barrel slide" that a kid is supposed to be able to hang from and slide smoothly through the air for 20 feet or so.

Trouble is, it's lost its swoosh. It just squeaks and squeals wrenchingly for a couple inches at a time.

"A little WD-40 wouldn't hurt that thing," Hardman said – but she believes it's probably beyond repair.

Then there's a curious piece that looks like a pair of jail cells from the Jetsons. It's officially "the spaceship," but parents call it "the hamburger." It too is rusting out.

"This has got to go," Hardman said with finality.

"We're actually going to be responsible and recycle it," said Carrie Sgarlata, co-president of the PTO. "Action Recycling is going to come and pick it up – and pay us for it."

New pieces the group wants to install include a web climber, a volcano rock climb and a stack of honeycombs for climbing and crawling.

Team is two-thirds of the way there

The estimate for everything they'd like to do to bring the play area up to snuff is $40,000. The School District and the Lincoln PTO were able to pony up $27,000 between them, Sgarlata said.

That leaves Lincoln in need of $13,000 in donations to do it right, and they'd like to some of it come from outside the school.

"We are asking for donations from Lincoln families, of course," Sgarlata said, "but also from neighbors who use it and from alumni."

Lincoln Principal Dean Nemoir couldn't be more pleased that he has parents in the school willing and so able to take on the project.

"The parents have really taken this under their wings," Nemoir said. "I believe they started working on this just in November, so it's been fantastic to see this go forward so fast.

"And it's great not only for the school but for the community. So many people use this playground besides our families."

If the needed funds can be raised in time, the playground enhancements can be completed this summer, the group said.

To donate, mail or drop off a check made out to Lincoln School PTO at Lincoln Elementary School 1741 Wauwatosa Ave., Wauwatosa WI 53213.

For more information on the project or donating, e-mail jenhardman@gmail.com.


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