About 40 people gave up a good portion of their Father's Day Weekend to do an extreme makeover on the children's play structure at the Bayview-Kinnear Park on West Prospect Street (just below the Kerry Park Viewpoint on Highland Drive).
Gone is the old wooden structure built in 1983, obscured behind dense evergreens that made safety and visibility major concerns. In its place is a hi-tech structure designed in Denmark that provides all sorts of new opportunities for kids of all ages to climb, spin and slide.
The volunteer work crews were organized by Kevin Baumler as part of his Boy Scout Eagle Service Project. His Queen Anne-based Troop 72, which meets at Bethany Presbyterian Church, has been doing service projects benefiting the neighborhood since the group was founded in 1917.
Because the project required two days and involved 106 bags of concrete to anchor two structures that are more than 12 feet tall and 60 feet total in length, this was one of the largest projects the troop has ever tackled; it required nearly 300 man-hours total.
Everything went very smoothly considering there were more than 20 people on site at once. In fact, the on-site portion of the project was completed in only 11 hours instead of the 18 hours planned.
All the installation was under the watchful eye of the manufacturer's technical advisor, who carefully inspected the work and was quite impressed with the competence of the volunteer group - the Boy Scouts, their parents, neighbors and friends. (Examples of other service projects and high-adventure outdoor events undertaken by the troop can be seen at www.troop72seattle.org.)
Although the installation of the play structure took only half a day, the planning and fundraising has been a culmination of three long years of effort by some hardworking volunteers in the Friends of Bayview-Kinnear Park headed by Casey Margard.
When completed, the park renovations will include a new gathering space, play equipment designed for younger children, a wheelchair ramp, and many new plantings.
The grand opening is planned for Aug. 11. Until then, the neighbor kids will have to wait to test all the new features on the play structure.[[In-content Ad]]
