With good teamwork . . . everyone wins

There was plenty of teamwork going on last week at the Mountain View Recreation Park as crew members teamed up with a host of local volunteers to assemble the new playground center at Mountain View Recreation Park.

The new $75,000 feature was made possible through even more community teamwork with a host of groups and individuals teaming with the Clinton County Healthy Hometown Coalition on the successful fundraising to make the purchase and installation of the equipment possible.

The long-awaited and much worked for improvement project at Mountain View Park is now complete and in full use, thanks to a lot of work from individuals, and the collaboration of different groups and organizations.

After the new playground feature arrived last week, project organizers went “old school” so to speak in order to get the massive playground put together, putting out a call for volunteers and organizing an effort that was reminiscent of an old fashioned “barn raising” event at the park.

Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways as not only did the equipment installation get completed in a two-day period, the project costs proved to be considerably less than it would have been had the equipment been installed by the company that had been awarded the winning bid, David Williams and Associates.

The new playground equipment was installed at the park this past weekend and is now being used by children in Albany and Clinton County who are taking advantage of the new, more up-to-date playground items for children all the way up to 12 years of age.

The original project began almost three years ago as an idea by the Recreation Park Board, and somewhat led by Board Member Leland Hicks who spent a lot of volunteer time and effort to raise initial funds for the new equipment.

Following some localized fundraisers at the park, the board got a big boost when they were awarded a grant from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, administered by the local Healthy Hometown Coalition program. Those grant funds, along with the park fundraisers and various other funding sources, set the stage to actually advertise for bids for a new playground.

The project was bid by the HHC and park board with six total bids received earlier this spring. The two bodies jointly met and each voted separately to award what they determined to be the best bid from David Williams and Associates playground equipment company of Alliance, Ohio for a little over $74,000.

Park Board director Bobby Reneau noted that about $15,000 was saved by paying for the playground equipment and having it installed–with the supervision of company representative–by local volunteers.

The equipment arrived at the park last Wednesday, May 6 and was installed last Friday and Saturday, primarily Saturday, with the help of park board members, Health Hometown Coalition members and a host of volunteers. In all, over 50 people showed up to help construct and install the equipment at the park, which was ready for use early this week.

Reneau said that one of the company supervisors for David Williams and Associates complimented the local volunteers, saying it was one of the better work groups he had ever worked with in these type projects.

Park Board chairman Vince Ostertag, who sees the new playground as one of the most major new assets the park could have, also thanked the public for their patience this past weekend when the park was temporarily closed due to the construction set-up and the footers for the new playground being installed.

Paula Little, a member of both the park board and Healthy Hometown Coalition, who helped write the grant application for the funding of the equipment called the new playground a “wonderful addition to the community and will be an asset for years to come.”

Little added, “We’re very appreciative for the many members of the community who donated money, time, energy and support to make this project a reality.”

Although the new playground equipment is open and ready for use, a ribbon cutting ceremony to invite the entire community to the park to celebrate the opening is planned for Saturday, May 30 at 10 a.m.

More details on the events planned for that ceremony will be announced in the coming weeks.