FIRST PHASE COMPLETED ON BIG HOWE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTThe merry-go-round was whirling, the slide attracted slippers, the climbing wall drew mini-mountaineers and a rope bridge was irresistible to kids at the May 3 grand opening of the completed first phase of the Big Howe Improvement Project (aka: B-HIP).Planning and fundraising for the Queen Anne project near the community center began in 2004, said Eleni Ledesma, who co-chaired the effort with Maryam Mohit.Cost of the new playground equipment, landscaping and installation of soft surface around the merry-go-round was about $60,000, Ledesma said."We had some setbacks," she added. "We actually got a lot of flak from the community about raising money for a playground when there were homeless people (in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina)."The second phase of the project will include smaller playground equipment at the western edge of the city property at the corner of Third Ave. W. and W. Howe St., Ledesma said. There are two designs: one costing a little over $21,000 and another costing more than $25,000. The community will get the chance to choose which one by voting on the group's Web site (www.bighowe.org), she said. "I'm looking for that angel donor, someone who will set me free," Ledesma said of funding that phase.The third phase calls for the construction of a so-called zip line along the eastern edge of the playground. A zip line consists of a line stretched between two platforms, and kids will use a two-handled pulley attached to the rope to slide between the platforms."The community as a whole wanted something for the bigger kids," she said of the reason behind including the zip line. "They're incredibly popular."Originally the line was going to be 70 feet long, but there were concerns that it would cost too much, Ledesma added. "So we shortened it to 40 feet of swinging fun."Not all members of the community think including a zip line is such a great idea. Romi Gordan, who lives across the street from Big Howe, called the idea "ludicrous" at the grand opening on Saturday.A large tree will have to be cut down to make room for the line, and a grassy area will have to be sacrificed for the equipment, he said. Worse, Gordon wrote in an e-mail to the News, the zip line will become "an attractive nuisance" that will draw noisy older kids to the area late at night.The cost for the zip line pencils out at around $80,000, Ledesma said. "It'll take another year or two to raise that kind of money," she added.Total cost for all three phases will be $418,000, according to the B-HIP Web site, and $39,000 of that will take the form of sweat equity from community members. Ledesma estimates volunteers have already clocked around 2,000 hours that can apply toward matching grants.Matching grants totaling more than $25,000 have come from the Department of Neighborhoods and King County's Parks and Recreation Division, she said. Corporate donations have come from - among others - Starbucks, Safeco, and the Queen Anne branch of Homestreet Bank. Numerous individuals and families have also ponied up from between $100 to more than $10,000 in donations, according to the group's Web site. The Web site also notes that B-HIP co-chair Mohit and Erick Blachford were among the $10,000-plus donors.A group of four "true-and-blue B-HIPers" were responsible for the project's success so far, and five to seven other supporters were an integral part of the effort, Ledesma said.[[In-content Ad]]
