Advice, ideas on getting a playground built? (Wilkes-Barre, Kane: lawyer, live in)

[ki0eh]

Many playgrounds are funded in part by the state - see 2009 Grants - Pa. DCNR - both local governments and non-profits are eligible, but local governments can take advantage of state contract pricing on the play equipment. They have had an annual grant application period but that could be in jeopardy with the budget situation. It pays for ordinary commercial play equipment, no need yet specifically to be "green" but maybe in the future that will come too.

You will want to work through the municipality to the extent possible, it's likely easier to budge them than to go through all the bureaucratic hoops as a start-up non-profit. Just remember that council members, city staff, and board members on any existing park&rec board are people too. As people, they respond much better to "We should do this and we can help by..." than to "You should do THIS NOW!" approaches.

[W-B proud]

I will be be glad to help you out. I also live in Wilkes-Barre and support your idea. It might not be a bad idea to contact your city counsel member for your neighborhood, and tell them about your plans. What neighborhood do you live in?

[Magritte25]

I live in the Heights section of Wilkes-Barre.

[poconoproud]

I used to hang out in the heights all the time. We played at the school playground.

Office of Community Development

maybe you can start with the office of community development.

Funds can also be raised through rotaries, clubs such as Lions, Kiwanis, ect.

Grants for Playground Equipment - Snider & Associates

you can try for grants

Boundless Playgrounds - Partners & Initiatives - Foundation Partners


Not sure about this...but any avenue can be a viable one...

Luzerne Foundation
East Mountain Corporate Center
613 Baltimore Drive
Wilkes Barre, PA 18702
717-822-5420
Grants are awarded locally for youth and community arts projects.
Call the foundation for a formal application form.

[greentown]

Our local park (owned by the township) had very old, unsafe playground equipment. A group of local people started fundraising for new equipment and eventually it was replaced. The elementary school is located across the road and many of the kids participate in sports at the park, so our PTO as well as many of the families in the area donated to the cause, and many businesses in the area also donated. This isn't the same as your situation, because the playground was already there and just needed updating, but I think your idea about the lot with the abandoned house is a good start. Just try to think about who would use the playground and maybe you can get a group together to think about fundraising. Maybe you could make up some flyers and ask the local school to send them home with the kids?

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by poconoproud

I used to hang out in the heights all the time. We played at the school playground.

Office of Community Development

maybe you can start with the office of community development.

Funds can also be raised through rotaries, clubs such as Lions, Kiwanis, ect.

Grants for Playground Equipment - Snider & Associates

you can try for grants

Boundless Playgrounds - Partners & Initiatives - Foundation Partners


Not sure about this...but any avenue can be a viable one...

Luzerne Foundation
East Mountain Corporate Center
613 Baltimore Drive
Wilkes Barre, PA 18702
717-822-5420
Grants are awarded locally for youth and community arts projects.
Call the foundation for a formal application form.

Thanks for all the great info! Are you talking about the Heights Murray Elementary school? If so, there is no longer a playground there. The closest one is down by Stanton Lanes.

[poconoproud]

yep...my cousins lived in the heights and went to school there. I remember they used to have movie days... too bad the playground is gone...

[thecoalman]

[double post]

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by poconoproud

too bad the playground is gone...

Blame it on the lawyers, most of the long standing very durable equipment like the trusty old stainless steel big sliding board are things of the past. Phased out because the insurance companies want a ridiculous amount of money to insure them or won't insure them at all. All that old but very usable equipment was taken out and if it was replaced it's easily vandalized plastic junk that lasts a few years . Add the insurance premiums on top of even the "safe" equipment and maintaining a playground becomes a very expensive venture.

Excellent article here:

Frivolous Lawsuits Kill Old-Fashioned Playground Nostalgia - Daily Nexus

I remember the playgrounds of my younger days: huge slides made of metal that got hot in the Florida sun, big swing sets that offered massive heights to jump off of, push-and-go-rounds where you could get your shirt snagged and get taken for a wild ride whether you liked it or not, high monkey bars and rope ladders with no foam padding to cushion your fall, and who can forget the seesaws - teeter-totters for you new-schoolers - that could result in a tailbone-jarring drop.


My friends and I used to come home with abrasions, contusions, lacerations and, in the worst cases, fractures because, if you didn’t, it just wasn’t a good day on the playground. No room for weakness, as it was a pure test of Darwinian survival. Our parents would give us the necessary first aid or drive us to the ER while cursing our endeavors, but they never sued.

[poconoproud]

Well, I for one never like stainless steel slides... I think i still have a butt burn from a slide that was hotter than H E double hockey sticks...