Local state park adds state of the art playground
CHAMPION — Rain and high winds aren’t stopping a crew from building a state of the art playground at a local state park.
Van Riper State Park is in the middle of assembling a $225,000 project on the beach.
Volunteers from the National Guard and Friends of Van Riper came out to support the cause by donating their time and hard work. The Guard was able to attribute nearly 30 members for today’s building session.
“We’re a community organization, all of our members come from the community,”said 107 Engineer Battalion Executive Officer Major Lucas Lanczy. “We heard about the Friends of Van Riper and the DNR looking for help with this project so I talked with my staff and everyone was willing to take the day off of work, come here, roll up their sleeves and do a good team building event, something that will be long lasting for the community.”
The playground will include safety features like protective matting on the ground as well as a telescope to overlook the lake.
“It’s for fun, right? Kids are going to have fun out there. I mean, this is going to be great for the kids. There’s so many cool elements on this,” said Van Riper State Park Supervisor Doug Barry. “It will be ADA accessible so children in wheel chairs will be able to come and play the same as all of the other children.”
The project was funded by grants from the DNR, Game Time and a Cliffs-Lundin Community Foundation grant.
The playground’s assembly should be complete this weekend.