Moms push for park makeover

Wednesday, April 5, 2006

By Courtney Greve
Staff writer

The large, wooden jungle gym had seen better days.

Seventeen years of rain, sun and snow did a number on the prominent structure in Mount Greenwood Park's playground.

It was riddled with splinters, rotted wood and rusty bolts. It shook when children ran across its bridges or zipped down its slide.

Perhaps worst of all, it no longer met safety standards, a recent inspection showed.

Two weeks ago, the jungle gym was demolished.

The rest of the playground also will be torn down and replaced with newer, safer equipment if four mothers from Chicago's southwestern edge have their way.

Terri Oliver, Mary Vogwill, Jennifer Lucid and Pam Waldrom are working with the Chicago Park District to build a new $800,000 playground.

Half of that amount has been raised through a $200,000 park district grant and $100,000 each from state Sen. Ed Maloney (D-Chicago) and state Rep. Kevin Joyce (D-Chicago).

The moms hope to generate the remaining $400,000 through fundraising. They are hosting a playground information meeting at 6 p.m. April 25 in the park fieldhouse, 3724 W. 111th St.

"We want to get the community on board and make sure this is what they want," said Oliver, who has two sons and a daughter.

"We've done our homework. If we ask people to donate money, it has to be cost justified."

The mothers, who are members of the Mount Greenwood Park Advisory Council, say the playground is outdated, unsafe and inaccessible for children with special needs.

The latter is particularly relevant at Mount Greenwood, which has one of the largest therapeutic recreation programs in the city.

"We got angry about (the state of the playground) and decided to do something," Oliver said.

"Every parent knows of a park that's better and safer," added Vogwill, a mother of two. "We should have a playground that's just as good as the North Side or the suburbs."

With the blessing of Ald. Ginger Rugai (19th), the moms asked the park district to conduct a safety check.

The playground, built in 1989, failed to pass the June inspection by the Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Chicago at Children's Memorial Hospital.

The inspector, certified with the National Program for Playground Safety, found a laundry list of problems, including unanchored or loose structures, missing or rusty parts, equipment that was not age appropriate, and too many splinters and sharp edges.

The jungle gym was deemed so unsafe that the park district decided it should be torn down.

Next, the moms went on a field trip to playlots built in the past three years. All six stops were on the North Side.

They liked what they saw at Margate Park, 4921 N. Marine Drive, and plan to incorporate many of its features, such as a rubber play surface, benches, public art and a large treehouse play structure.

The moms hope to update the playground's splash pad by replacing concrete with a soft surface and switching the water so it only sprays on demand.

The new playground also will have a fence and gate to keep children in during the day and teenagers out at night.

If any money is left over, it would be spent on new lighting and to repair the circular path around the fields.

The tentative schedule calls for fundraising to wrap up in November, construction to start next spring and the playground to be ready for a summer 2007 unveiling during Mount Greenwood's centennial celebration.

Vogwill said it is an auspicious time to update the playground because the neighborhood is seeing a boom in home construction, retail developments and home remodeling.

"Mount Greenwood is undergoing a renaissance," Vogwill said. "A new park would be one more component in that and bring even more pride to the community."

A fund for the playground has been set up through Parkways Foundation, the nonprofit philanthropic arm of the park district.

Checks payable to "Mount Greenwood Playlot Initiative" can be mailed to Parkways Foundation, 541 N. Fairbanks, Suite 850, Chicago, IL 60611.

Courtney Greve may be reached at cgreve@dailysouthtown.com or (708) 633-5983.

What: Mount Greenwood Park new playground meeting

Where: The park fieldhouse, 3724 W. 111th St., Chicago

When: 6 p.m. April 25

$931,724

collected to date