ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 12, 1996 TAG: 9612130008
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
Behind Rosalind Hills Baptist Church is a large, grassy field that fronts on busy Brandon Avenue. For pastor Tom Stocks and his flock of more than 250 members and friends, it is a field of dreams.
Their dream is to provide a safe place to play for families in the neighborhood, many of whom live in one of five apartment complexes - Brandon West, The Ridge, Sciotto Apartments, Langdon Place and Colonial Yorktown.
The playground equipment at some of the complexes is inadequate and at others it is nonexistent, Stocks said.
Stocks said the $100,000 project is not meant as an evangelistic tool aimed at bringing in new members, but as a way of promoting family togetherness.
"We believe that the family that plays together stays together," he said. Besides, "It's the right thing to do. This church wants to make a difference in this community."
The field, which at one time was the site of a church-sponsored miniature golf course, is used for picnics, parties and other events. It was purchased in the 1960s for an addition to the sanctuary.
"But we haven't gotten the use out of the land that we wanted," Stocks said. Church attendance fell nationwide in the 1970s, and expansion plans were shelved.
Stocks said the idea for the playground came to him in 1992, as "a gift given to me from God."
It also came as a result of his pastoral counseling activites. So many of the people who sought his help were victims of childhood sexual abuse that he began to realize how widespread the problem is, he said.
When he asked some of them "where did you go to be safe?," he was suprised at how many of them said: "the playground."
Later, when he contacted the managers of the apartment complexes, he said they were excited about the idea, and told him they had quite a few "latchkey children" among their tenants.
Elizabeth Woodford, a church member with three small children, said the project "is an excellent idea for the church families and for the rest of the community."
Like many parents in the Raleigh Court neighborhood, she usually takes her children to Lakewood Park on Brandon Avenue or Penn Forest Park in Roanoke County, which have some of the newest equipment in the area, but are farther from her home than the proposed playground will be.
There was "very little resistance" to the project from the congregation, Stocks said. "They've taken the vision on. This is the cutting edge of community ministry."
A committee was established to design the playground, take bids on equipment, and research the legal and insurance issues involved. Their report was completed in 1995.
The design calls for two play areas: one for preschoolers and the other for children age 5 and up. In between the two areas will be two swing sets and a sandbox. Benches will be scattered around the park, which will measure 70 yards by 220 yards. A walking track for adults will enclose the entire area.
The park will be protected from traffic on Brandon Avenue by an existing fence, and prickly holly bushes planted along the open side will discourage children from running out to Langdon Road.
The play areas will have bright, attractive slides, ladders and crawl tubes made of metal and sturdy plastic. The committee chose a system with hidden bolts and clamps, and for safety's sake, none of the decks are more than 4 feet high.
Areas under the equipment will be padded with a layer of wood fiber that is similar to mulch, but is accessible to wheelchairs. In fact, all of the equipment can be used by handicapped children.
The playground equipment will cost about $30,000, exclusive of landscaping and other improvements, and the padding will cost $20,000. It's expensive, but Stocks said it is the safest material the committee could find.
After the preliminary work was done, the committee received $43,000 in donations and pledges, including a recent $10,000 gift, as well as donations in-kind. But for a nearly a year, no one wanted to take on the job of raising funds.
"We needed to get on with it, or quit," Stocks said.
Finally, this past summer, Jayne Smith and Kathy McMillan stepped in and offered to take over the fund-raising efforts. Both women have experience in fund raising for charitable organizations.
"I knew it meant a lot to Tom," Smith said. "It was frustrating that nothing was happening."
"We got energized about it," McMillan said. "We wanted to get it rolling."
The original plans called for selling sponsorships of park benches and slots on a permanent "board of patrons" to businesses and individuals.
Among the ideas McMillan and Smith have come up with are T-shirt and doughnut sales, a "friendship" path paved with handpainted bricks and a picket fence. Donors can purchase the bricks at $100 apiece or pickets at $25 each and have them inscribed with their names or corporate logos.
Mark Andrist, a contemporary Christian musician, has already promised to give a benefit concert.
Stocks, McMillan and Smith are also asking for help from local civic groups and businesses.
Community support will enable the fund-raising commitee to apply for grants and other aid that is not normally available to church groups, McMillan said.
"Everything is falling into place," she said.
Construction is expected to begin as soon as 90 percent of the funds have been raised, which should be some time next year, Stocks said.
To save money and to create a true community playground, the church plans to invite neighborhood residents to join in the work, which will be supervised by the manufacturer of the equipment.
Anyone wishing to help can make a donation to Playground Task Force, 2711 Laburnum Ave. S.W., Roanoke, Va. 24015.
LENGTH: Long : 107 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff 1. A painting shows what the plannedby CNBplayground behind Rosalind Baptist Church will look like when it is
finished. 2. Members of Rosalind Hills Baptist Church plan to turn a
vacant lot behind the church into their field of dreams.