Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 17, 1994 TAG: 9402170319
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY BELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Paint the image bright blue and gold. Top it with towers. Add mulch underneath and sketch in trees overhead.
You now have a vivid picture of what Roanoke's next play area - Roanoke Civitan Unified Playground at Smith Park - will look like.
Armed with the newly discovered fund-raising power of weekly Bingo games, Roanoke's 80-member Civitan club is picking up most of the tab for the $47,000 playground for children of all ages, including those with disabilities.
"This project started out as a concrete area where handicapped people could go and fish or just watch the river," said Russ Hawkins, Civitan president.
That was nearly two years ago, and the idea was tabled because of flood-control studies along Wiley Drive. But Roanoke officials offered an alternative.
Improvements, including the addition of equipment accessible to the handicapped, were scheduled to be built adjacent to the river at Smith Park. The city faced a much larger price tag until Civitan members tackled the playground project. Using profits from weekly Bingo games the club began sponsoring last summer, the Civitans had raised $20,000 by mid-January.
As Civitans and city park officials began working together, a steel structure with features for children with varying physical abilities was chosen from a Maryland playground fabricator, Columbia Cascade. The Civitans chose the colors, their own blue and gold.
"We are calling it "Unified," because the idea is to bring all kids together at this playground," Hawkins said.
Because it hopes to complete the playground by summer, the club began corporate fund raising in early February. Along with raising more money, the drive allows others to show support for the project.
The city is showing support of its own. In addition to providing the site, the city will provide about $22,000 for services, including site preparation, sidewalks and maintenance, club member Ben Snead said.
"Obviously, as funding for these types of projects becomes tighter and tighter, we hope to rely on the support of groups who come forward and make contributions like this," said park planner Lynn Vernon, the city's liaison on the project.
Snead said the Smith Park location is ideal because of the cultural and economic diversity of the people who visit the park each year.
He said Civitans may sponsor other playgrounds, depending on the success of this project.
The Civitan Club of Roanoke was instrumental in the development of Mill Mountain Zoo in the 1960s but has not tackled a project of that scope in some time, Snead said.
Civitans also sponsor a teddy bear program with local police and sell candy and fruitcakes each year.
The group built a small play area at the Roanoke Rescue Mission and supports Special Olympics and Tinker Mountain Industries.
To learn more about the Roanoke Civitan Unified Playground at Smith Park or to make a donation, write: Civitan Club of Roanoke, Russ Hawkins, president, P.O. Box 71, Roanoke, Va. 24002-0071; or call 985-0143.
by CNB