Inclusive Playground in Sartell Ready for Ribbon-Cutting
SARTELL (WJON News) - Construction is complete on the new, inclusive playground at Lions Park in Sartell.
The project began in 2022 when area parents explained the difficulties they had using the current playground.
Stu Giffin, from the Sartell Lions Club, says the club started looking into solutions.
It was eye-opening. Some of the things that they brought up were some of our kids cannot walk, and when they crawl on sand or wood chips or rubberized tires (it) gets in their mouths, their hands, (and) their eyes. Some of the kids are wheelchair bound and moving a wheelchair across sand is awful. Some of these kids have siblings and friends, and for them to be able to play alongside those folks, it's not possible to do (in) traditional playgrounds.
The new plan included more than 6,000 square feet of rubberized surface, plus several new amenities designed to let children of all abilities play together.
Three local Lions clubs – Sartell, St. Stephen, and LeSauk, joined together to raise the more than $340,000 needed to improve the playground.
Jim Muellenbach, the co-chair of the fundraising committee, says it went much easier than he anticipated.
When we started the fundraising, we thought, well, this is going to be an effort, because we knew how much money we had to raise. After about a year, we had met our goal. When you talk about the value of this project, everybody can see the need.
LeSauk Lions Club President Matt Lingle says they’re excited to officially present the new playground to the community.
On Sunday, September 10, at 4:00 p.m., we're going to have a dedication ceremony (at the park). We have all the donors invited, we will have city members, multiple Lion club members, and the community so that we can give this to the community.
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