Rotary playground will make a mark on Maritime Park


  • November 29, 2014
  • /   Ben Sheffler
  • /   community-dashboard
Fundraising is well under way to bring the Community Maritime Park a top-notch playground, thanks to the Rotary Club of Pensacola. The Rotary Centennial Playground will be a gift to the city in celebration of the downtown Rotary's 100-year anniversary in 2015, and the club recently received an IMPACT 100 grant to kick start its fundraising. The $102,500 grant will pay for a state-of-the-art, firm yet safe surface for the playground, making it handicap accessible. "Without their partnership, I'm not sure we could've done that," said John Shaffer, Rotary Club of Pensacola president and chairman of the Rotary Centennial Playground committee. "I think [the surface] will be one of those marquee things that separates it from other places you can go." [sidebar] Want to help? To learn more about the Rotary Centennial Playground, or to donate, visit http://www.pensacolarotaryclub.org/page/ rotary_centennial_playground/?park. [/sidebar] The playground will also feature an approximately 15-foot high concrete observation tower, also handicap accessible, that will allow people to look out at Pensacola Bay. Picnic tables, benches, landscaping, shading elements and a large grassy area will also attract visitors, and there should be plenty of room to host events such as family reunions or picnics, Shaffer said. "It’s truly designed to be a family place that people can gather, and not just a playground where the kids just play," he said. Marty Longworth, a member of the Downtown Rotary, said the playground is a big contribution to the community that will be here forever. "It's going to be something that the entire community can use and enjoy," she said. "I am just very proud that I'm able to be a part of it." All 11 Pensacola area Rotary Clubs are sponsoring and donating to the project, and groundbreaking is scheduled early next year with a late spring opening. Early in the playground's development, some Pensacola residents challenged the club to think outside the box. "[They said], 'Why don't we do something unique, something very accessible to all kids that's unique to Pensacola with its own design?'" Shaffer said. "And we took that to heart." Shaffer said everyone from the architects and landscape designers to the land surveyors and construction workers have been local. The only outside consultant involved is the playground designer, Joanne Hiromura, StudioMLA Architects, Brookline, Mass. "Her niche in the world is designing great parks that are designed to get to the kids' needs, not just to entertain them," Shaffer said. "It get kids interacting in such a way that it challenges them." Local architect John Tice has led the design committee, joined by Larry Adams of Bullock Tice Associates; Steve Dana of Jerry Pate Design; David Delgallo of Morette Company; Joe DeReuil of Joe DeReuil Associates and Keith Jacobs of Larry Jacobs & Associates. Shaffer said $350,000 has been raised already, and the goal is to raise between $600,000 to $800,000. "Everybody putting in just a little bit will help everybody feel a little ownership," he said. "If we get enough people doing that, this thing's done." Plans for future expansion to the playground are already in the works, and Shaffer is optimistic about its place in the community. "This is a destination," Shaffer said. "This is going to be neat."  
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