They were there in the beginning. And, they’ll be there as the new version of Kid’s Zone is created.
Great Plains AMBUCS donated $40,000 to the City of Lawton last week to support the new Kid’s Zone project in west Lawton’s Greer Park. It’s familiar territory for the active civic organization.
AMBUCS was there in the very beginning, when member Mark Glenn, after a visit to his parents in California, brought back the idea that would evolve into Kid’s Zone, a community initiative that built the city’s first interactive playground for youth in Greer Park on Northwest 38th Street. It was a true community initiative, one that residents supported with dollars, with materials, with food, and with physical labor 24 years ago.
AMBUCS member and former Councilman Kelly Harris, providing the donation Tuesday to the City Council, remembered that initial initiative, explaining Great Plains AMBUCS “raised a little more than what was needed” to build the park and amenities that range from walls holding handprinted tiles from city youth, to a restroom. After bills were paid, remaining funds were invested, with proceeds used to maintain the projects through the years, Harris said.
Harris said when Parks and Recreation Director Larry Parks came to AMBUCS to explain the project to replace the aging and deteriorating wooden structures with new playground equipment, “we said we wanted to be part of this.”
“We wanted to give you a little bit of a kick start,” Harris said, of AMBUC’s $40,000 donation that he said will support a new park that will continue to draw young visitors.
Parks has said the plan is to have the new equipment in place and operational for city youth by summer. City crews already have removed the old playground and have prepared the site for the new equipment, under a $2 million upgrade that will provide what city officials say will be cutting-edge amenities. The project also is to include a paved parking lot, something city officials have wanted for Greer Park for years. In addition to Kid’s Zone, Greer Park also is home to a tennis complex and a walking/bicycle trail.
Work began in late February, and Parks has said the project is expected to take three months to complete.
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