THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 26, 1995 TAG: 9510240145
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
After more than a year spent fretting over funds and raising money, after galvanizing hundreds of volunteers on countless projects, after working a rainy weekend screwing together and bolting down hundreds of pieces of playground components, those responsible for making Imagination Island a reality are ready to celebrate.
And they're inviting the whole community to join them.
On Saturday, hundreds of donors, volunteers and city officials will formally open the city's newest and largest playground at Northside Park. Festivities begin at 1 p.m. with remarks by organizers and Mayor Paul Fraim.
After thanking all the donors and volunteers who made the project possible, officials will cut the ribbon to officially open the playground, which will be decorated for the day with hundreds of red, green and blue balloons.
Afterward, the the massive wooden sandbox boat constructed by crew members from the recently decommissioned Bainbridge will be ``recommissioned'' in their honor.
Then it will be time to party. Throughout the day, balloons will be distributed to kids, free food and beverages will be served, and a local band will belt out ``tunes to play to.''
The big attraction, however, will be the $200,000 playground that covers about 16,000 square feet across the front of the Tidewater Drive city park.
Unlike the wooden Kids Cove in Virginia Beach or Fun Forest in Chesapeake, Imagination Island is constructed of plastic-coated steel equipment. Four play areas of whirlwind slides, spiral climbers, overhead fliers and other clusters are connected by dock-style bridges. The entire area is barrier-free.
``It's a 10,'' noted Danielle Wells, a 9-year-old Bayview resident who has already checked out the new playground. ``It's better than Kid's Cove ... and I can walk right from my house. I love it.''
The idea for the playground was hatched by students in three public schools participating in a national pilot program to improve education. Students and teachers at Norview High, Rosemont Middle and Tanners Creek Elementary schools began soliciting community help and financial support in 1994 to build the structure.
Eventually, they formed a partnership with Norfolk's Department of Parks and Recreation, which offered the Northside site and contributed $50,000 worth of services to the project. Dozens of businesses and community gorups joined in to help. Several military groups, especially Seabees Unit 411 at the Norfolk Naval Base and crews from the Bainbridge, contributed labor and funds to the effort.
Norfolk school kids also did their part in raising money. A coin challenge, for example, brought in $3,500.
At times, raising funds was frustrating. Last spring, some $110,000 short of their goal, organizers announced they would be forced to begin construction a year later than they'd originally anticipated because of the lack of money. But during the summer, some community heavy hitters got involved to help push the goal over the top. Consequently, the building of the playground was delayed just seven months.
Since mid-September, crews from the Seabees and the Bainbridge spent weekdays working to prepare the site and construct some structures. Then two weeks ago, hundreds of volunteers descended on the park to put together the last of the playground components.
Now that the work finally is done, it's time to party.
``This will be a reward for everybody who worked on the project,'' noted Loraine Perkins, one of the organizers. ``So many different people did so many different segments of it. This party will be their chance to finally see it all finished. I'm so excited. I just hope everybody who worked on it will come together to see what they've done.'' by CNB