Jefferson Playground

Hello there. We are relatively new to the area and have been watching the new playground at Jefferson School be built. As we understand it, the PTA raised the money for the playground and the installation, and the town was responsible for the grounds work (new borders around the playground, mulch, etc.). It seems to be taking a really long time for the grounds work to get done. Equipment has been left on the playground - shovels, wheel barrels - in addition to a piece or two of the set that haven't be installed (a long pole/sign).

We're new to the small town thing and were wondering if this was just the product of a not having a lot of people dispatched to do the work, or something else. Can the community volunteer to help move and spread the mulch to make the project move forward more quickly? It seems like the school could really use a functional playground.

Perhaps you could message the Jefferson Playground Project on their Facebook page with your concern. Since you're new to the area, one thing to be thankful for is due to the dedication, hard work and generosity of the Marshall-Jefferson and SoMa communities, the money for this playground (over $100,000) was raised by the community a full year ahead of schedule. It was an incredible effort and I'm very proud and thankful for everyone that worked so hard to make this playground happen.

chalmers said:
Perhaps you could message the Jefferson Playground Project on their Facebook page with your concern. Since you're new to the area, one thing to be thankful for is due to the dedication, hard work and generosity of the Marshall-Jefferson and SoMa communities, the money for this playground (over $100,000) was raised by the community a full year ahead of schedule. It was an incredible effort and I'm very proud and thankful for everyone that worked so hard to make this playground happen.

I am very aware of the hard work of the PTA. We're not that new. I don't think the work that is left to do has anything to do with the PTA, though, which was why I was asking my question in the first place.

Perhaps contacting the school, PTA and/or Township might be a more effective way to have your question answered.

Wouldn't the School District be responsible for the grounds work rather than the Township? It's not Township property.

If it is the School District, I would imagine that the first several weeks of the school year are the busiest for the people that handle this type of work.

This

yahooyahoo said:
Wouldn't the School District be responsible for the grounds work rather than the Township? It's not Township property.
If it is the School District, I would imagine that the first several weeks of the school year are the busiest for the people that handle this type of work.

You're right. Maybe we will call the town or district and see if they would allow volunteers on a set day (supervised by someone official, of course). Or maybe it's just a matter of waiting, which I totally understand.

Jen, you're not alone in wondering why the final stage is taking so long. The entire playground was erected in close to a week, but it's been closed off with equipment laying around for several weeks. In my opinion, it's a real liability and hazard because it's impossible to keep kids off of it. I'd also like to help with the completion or know who's responsible for getting the job done.

I share your concern/ questions! We've also seen this tremendous fundraising effort push forward very quickly, and then to watch the installation go at such a glacial pace is frustrating. The equipment has all been installed, and now each day there seems to be one more tractor load of mulch laid down. Some neighbors have said we'd like to each take a shovel to it and be done with it! I feel for the school staff and playground monitors who have to keep kids off of it when it looks 95% finished.

The playground was funded a full year ahead of schedule.

Complain next year.

My Jefferson kid said yesterday that they're letting kids on the playground now... maybe someone was reading MOL?

It is officially open, and glorious! And favabean, good point about keeping complaining to a minimum when the fundraising committee did such an amazing job. Easy to feel like there are no issues now that it's finally open!

The installation was completed on 8/29. The district needed to wait for the mulch to be delivered before they could proceed. Kudos to Bill Kyle and his staff for getting the job done just two weeks after the first day of school, and during the busiest time of the year (and in 90+ degree heat most days).

WOW!! It looks awesome!! My kids aren't at Jefferson but I'll look forward to taking them to play on the weekends!!