The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, January 15, 1995               TAG: 9501130237
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER       PAGE: 20   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY PATRICIA HUANG, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   44 lines

VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT TO BUILD FUN FOREST FOR PLAY

Ground will be broken Tuesday for Fun Forest playground, a three-acre fun park at Chesapeake City Park to be built by volunteers.

About $80,000 has been raised for the fun park, according to Mary Haddad, park project coordinator. Most of it has come from a single memorial donation.

Designed by New York-based architects Leather and Associates, the park will utilize every square foot of the place, she said.

Civic leagues are encouraged to adopt a garden in the park, maintain it with flowers and be creative with themes for their section. Handprint tiles will be sold for $25 each to residents who want to have their handprint glazed on a tile and placed in walls within the park, Haddad said. The tiles are expected to take up 640 square feet of the area. Picnic tables also can be engraved with the names of donors and volunteers.

The children's playground, which took root with the Chesapeake Division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, will also feature a Chesapeake history wall, a story circle, bird watching areas and a stage for musicals and impromptu plays. A large, strategically placed pavilion will provide parents with a central viewing area and 20 types of trees will enhance the picnic grounds within the fence wall. The park design includes accommodations for children with special needs.

Volunteers will begin construction of the park in May and officials expect construction to be completed by the summer.

On Jan. 28, a Fun Forest fund-raiser will be held at the Greenbrier Country Club. The Fun Forest Casino Night will begin at 7 p.m. and participants can gamble with $10,000 of ``Trump Money'' for $25 per person. The ``Big Spender'' of the night will receive a weekend for two at Trump Castle in Atlantic City. Other prizes include Contel phone bags, Sunday brunches, free rounds of golf and complimentary buffets at the Greenbrier Country Club. MEMO: For details, call 552-2020.

by CNB