THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505050282
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY SUSAN W. SMITH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 172 lines
FUN FOREST, THREE acres of fun paid for by children's pennies and gifts from large corporations and built by the sweat of willing volunteers, took shape at Chesapeake City Park this week.
It was more than a year ago when the Chesapeake Division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce introduced the idea of building a park where children and adults could safely play, picnic or enjoy storytelling, stage presentations and nature trails.
Leathers & Associates, an architectural firm from Ithaca, N.Y., was retained to design a recreation area that would blend whimsy, learning, science, discovery and natural beauty. The planners sought the advice of Chesapeake children, as well as adults, and drew up plans for a swinging turtle, a serpent tube slide, a pirate ship, an airplane, a castle, a fort, gardens, trails and plenty of open spaces under a canopy of trees.
The $200,000 park is the size of two football fields and four times larger than Kids' Cove at Mount Trashmore, also designed by Leathers. It is expected to be opened to the public on May 22.
Last week, after a year of plans, meetings, committees, newsletters and fund-raisers, action began on the job site. Pre-school children, teenagers, civic and business groups, Navy personnel, retirees - skilled and unskilled - composed the Fun Forest task force.
Fun Forest will be the largest handicapped-accessible park on the East Coast, according to John and Ila Ann Cannon, the project's advisers for the handicapped and special needs.
The Cannons said the maze, slides, picnic tables and benches are big enough to accommodate wheelchairs, and the walkways won't hinder those with crutches, canes or walkers. There's a swing for upper body strength and a sandbox built on legs so it can be used by children in wheelchairs. Everything is labeled in Braille for the blind.
Capt. Jim Brown and about 200 other volunteers from the USS Bainbridge worked shifts along with other Seabees from Norfolk Naval Base.
Crestar Bank employees, Boy Scout Troop 48, neighbors Nina Bertenshaw and Joyce Baine, and husband-and-wife teams, such as John and Ila Ann Cannon and David and Diana Ralston, joined hundreds of others at the work site.
As city employees poured sidewalks, teams from Virginia Power and GTE Telephone Co. set large poles, and other volunteers staked out a pavilion, stage, slides, tunnels, swings and picnic tables.
Nearly everyone who entered the park through its single entry stopped to admire a wall made of tiles, each personalized by a Fun Forest donor. They are marked with handprints, tiny feet, family names, animal paws and special dates, glazed in umber, lavender, cobalt blue and emerald green.
The tiles, set by volunteers from Cliff Quality Tile, include one from the Chesapeake Fire Department, one showing Caleb Leger-Swiney's tiny foot print, one marked ``Tanner Baine, 12-21-93,'' and one ``In memory of Walter Graymer.''
``It's beyond anything we even envisioned,'' said Fred Boyd, coordinator of the wall.
Tuesday's brisk wind and chilling rains didn't stop nearly 300 volunteers from showing up to work. The numbers increased each day.
At the registration desk, volunteers Janet Ingram, Tammy Kleis and Rose Dowdell checked in Scott Jaccard and Greg Hibbard, managers of Greenbrier Country Club, and give them yellow name tags and job assignments for the day.
Joyce Deming, an aide at B.M. Williams Primary School, came to help after class was adjourned for the day. John Cannon took a week of vacation time, and Ken Ablett and Marion Outlaw used their days off from work to pitch in where needed.
``I'm learning construction from the bottom up,'' said Outlaw, as he shoveled sand for the concrete that would become the floor of the gazebo. ``I plan to bring my nephew here to play, and I want to do my part to be part of the park.''
``That feeling is contagious,'' said Roger Bennett of the city's Parks and Recreation Department. ``It's cold and wet. The lumber is heavy, and the mud is getting deeper, but look at the smiles on everyone's face. They're here because they want to be a part of the park. These are the big kids at play
Thor Elmore, the construction superintendent, described himself as a donation from his employer, Armada/Hoffler. Elmore, who usually builds schools and industrial or commerce parks with workers who have years of construction experience, was put in charge of a team of novice workers.
``But we're running only two hours behind schedule,'' grinned Elmore. ``And everyone is doing an outstanding job. It's also the first construction project I've ever been on where there is not a single complaint.''
On the first day, Joyce Baine and Nina Bertenshaw, neighbors from Greenbrier, helped organize the hammers, saws, nails, screwdrivers and sanders in the tool shed. The second day they were assigned to routing lumber for a deck.
They lifted 14-foot sections of lumber to their sawhorse station and adjusted their safety glasses. The whir of the saw made conversation impossible but a quick thumbs up indicated they were pleased with the job.
``The edges of each piece of lumber used is rounded to prevent gaps, splinters and dangerous edges,'' explained Baine. ``It's for the safety of the children and also for long-term preservation of the park.''
``Isn't it great that we can all work together and it not be a crisis situation?'' asked Bertenshaw.
John Berti, a retired carpenter, came all the way from Buffalo, N.Y., to work on the project from start to finish. Fun Forest is the eighth super-park Berti has volunteered to build.
``Some guys hunt and fish,'' said Berti. ``I build parks. I turn on the coffee pot at the construction trailer at 5:30 a.m., and I turn the lights out when we leave at night.''
Each part of the park had a job foreman with a team of about 25 workers. There were also specialized sites, where some stained, some drilled and some cut to specific measurements.
Elmore directed the master plan for the piles of lumber, stacks of poles, mounds of mulch and tons of gravel. He kept track of forklifts, bobcats, concrete mixers and even donated golf carts used for transportation.
Chesapeake Comfort Care of Chesapeake General Hospital set up a M*A*S*H unit to handle medical emergencies. Stacey Williams and Nancy Malone were ready for any emergency, but mostly treated hammered thumbs and calloused palms.
In the La Petite Academy child care tent, little helpers watched cartoons and pulled screws and bolts through bars of Ivory Soap to make them easier to install.
``Be sure and don't put your hands in your mouth after doing this,'' advised one youngster.
``Everyone from large corporations, to a one-man shop, to Deep Creek High School have just been incredible,'' said Mike Fitchett, chairman of tool acquisitions. ``Many not only donated supplies and equipment, but also came to work.''
Fitchett said Scott Crumley of the Crumley Group donated a bobcat, than volunteered to work. Jeff Rowland of Jacobson Metal Co. not only supplied rods and helped cut precision pieces, but came out to the job site to man a shovel.
``I'll be bringing my daughters Bethany and Holly,'' said Rowland. ``This park is for all of us.''
Everywhere there were examples of community involvement in the project: Local restaurants donated more than 10,000 meals. Coca-Cola gave 750 cases of drinks. HQ gave a line of credit. Waste Management supplied 15 portable toilets. The industrial arts classes at Deep Creek High planed and cut 100 boards in one day. R.E. Poole Metal Works stopped work at the shop to do a job for Fun Forest. Pre-Mix Industries gave $500 in cash and followed it up with a donation of concrete.
Black & Decker Inc. donated almost all of the power tools - saws, drills, impact wrenches and screw guns. About 150 tools will be auctioned off today, and the proceeds will go to Fun Forest.
``This is one of the largest and most unusual parks we've designed, '' said Paul Hansen of Leathers & Associates. ``The echo tube, bird viewing stations, spin dial, large spaces and much more make it unique to Chesapeake.''
Kids who have seen it, agree.
Megan, Anela, Sarah, Kristin, Erika, Rita and Jessica painted a colorful sign displayed at the park. It reads, ``This is the best park ever.'' ILLUSTRATION: FOR THE CHILDREN
[Color Photo]
ON THE COVER
Working earlier this week on the stage for Fun Forest were Allen
Fulkerson and Bill Connolly. The photo is by staff photographer Mort
Fryman.
Darnell Burden, Sidney Forsyth and Darrel Powell man the mitre saw.
Chris Jaffe and Deborah Walker tamp dirt around a support pole.
Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
Bertha Sunberry and Shana Sanderson collect more wood to be sanded.
Staff photos by MORT FRYMAN
A castle maze was taking shape by mid-week, thanks to the efforts of
residents and city workers.
Mary C. Haddad coordinated the army of volunteers for the Fun Forest
park, which is the size of two football fields.
GOOD EATS
[For a list of restaurants that fed the volunteers and contributors
to the meals, see microfilm on page 13.]
by CNB