HOULTON, Maine — Sunshine and warm weather acts as a magnet for youth on summer break and in most cases, the first place they’ll flock to is the local playground.
Monkey bars and swingsets provide an outlet for all that excess energy and after more than 40 years of use, it’s time for a few upgrades to the Community Park playground.
Houlton’s Parks and Recreation Department has been fund-raising for the past year in an effort to replace some of the existing equipment that is currently located in the park. Program Coordinator Marie Carmichael has been spearheading the project and recent donations are getting them one step closer to being able to begin some of those upgrades.
“I’d like to make some large improvements, but it depends on how much money we can raise,” she explained. “We have earmarked certain things that need to be changed out — the swingsets and a couple of climbers. Depending on how much more funding we can raise, we’ll make some major changes to the whole playground structure, or add on pieces.
“Our estimate — to change out the pieces that we’d like and to get some safety surface — it’s about $60,000,” she added.
Since April, more than $10,000 has been raised through contributions made from area businesses, banks, individuals and organizations. The Rotary Club kicked off Carmichael’s goal with more than $7,000 raised from the group’s annual Rotary Auction, and donations continue to come in.
“If we were to change it out completely. We know the one at the school was $160,000, so I’m thinking I’d love to be able to do that, but ours will end up being improvements,” she explained. “It’ll be a couple of years to raise money for it. The play structure there is 18 years old and it’s safe, but it’s worn.
“We have so many kids that use it,” remarked Carmichael. “The general public uses it a great deal. The swingsets have been there for 40 years. They’re safe, but it’s time to make the changes because of the number of people that use them.”
Carmichael said they are going to sell T-shirts to try to raise some money and Pizza Hut is going to hold a Fund-raiser Night on July 21, with some contributions coming from a portion of their sales. She said all their efforts are a step in the right direction.
“We appreciate the support we’ve gotten so far and if anyone else would love to jump on board, just give me a call,” she said.
Town councilors approved another donation at their June 23 meeting. Town Manager Doug Hazlett echoed Carmichael’s remarks saying every bit of help is “very much appreciated.”
“It’s a big, expensive project and we’re going to need a lot of public support to try to get this done,” he said.
Former town councilor Phil Bernaiche spent a great deal of his time in the past working with youth recreation and he said he’s happy to see the public support and believes they will meet their goals in time.
“The more I look at this, it just tells you something about what Houlton’s made of,” said Bernaiche. “There’s some good people here in Houlton. Good things are happening for the children and we should be thankful that these people gave a considerable amount of money and if they just gave $1 it would be fine.”
To find out how to help with the playground project, contact Carmichael at 532-1310.
Monkey bars and swingsets provide an outlet for all that excess energy and after more than 40 years of use, it’s time for a few upgrades to the Community Park playground.
Houlton’s Parks and Recreation Department has been fund-raising for the past year in an effort to replace some of the existing equipment that is currently located in the park. Program Coordinator Marie Carmichael has been spearheading the project and recent donations are getting them one step closer to being able to begin some of those upgrades.
“I’d like to make some large improvements, but it depends on how much money we can raise,” she explained. “We have earmarked certain things that need to be changed out — the swingsets and a couple of climbers. Depending on how much more funding we can raise, we’ll make some major changes to the whole playground structure, or add on pieces.
“Our estimate — to change out the pieces that we’d like and to get some safety surface — it’s about $60,000,” she added.
Since April, more than $10,000 has been raised through contributions made from area businesses, banks, individuals and organizations. The Rotary Club kicked off Carmichael’s goal with more than $7,000 raised from the group’s annual Rotary Auction, and donations continue to come in.
“If we were to change it out completely. We know the one at the school was $160,000, so I’m thinking I’d love to be able to do that, but ours will end up being improvements,” she explained. “It’ll be a couple of years to raise money for it. The play structure there is 18 years old and it’s safe, but it’s worn.
“We have so many kids that use it,” remarked Carmichael. “The general public uses it a great deal. The swingsets have been there for 40 years. They’re safe, but it’s time to make the changes because of the number of people that use them.”
Carmichael said they are going to sell T-shirts to try to raise some money and Pizza Hut is going to hold a Fund-raiser Night on July 21, with some contributions coming from a portion of their sales. She said all their efforts are a step in the right direction.
“We appreciate the support we’ve gotten so far and if anyone else would love to jump on board, just give me a call,” she said.
Town councilors approved another donation at their June 23 meeting. Town Manager Doug Hazlett echoed Carmichael’s remarks saying every bit of help is “very much appreciated.”
“It’s a big, expensive project and we’re going to need a lot of public support to try to get this done,” he said.
Former town councilor Phil Bernaiche spent a great deal of his time in the past working with youth recreation and he said he’s happy to see the public support and believes they will meet their goals in time.
“The more I look at this, it just tells you something about what Houlton’s made of,” said Bernaiche. “There’s some good people here in Houlton. Good things are happening for the children and we should be thankful that these people gave a considerable amount of money and if they just gave $1 it would be fine.”
To find out how to help with the playground project, contact Carmichael at 532-1310.
