Friday, March 29, 2024

Kid-tested and approved

Ribbon cutting debuts new Bridgeport School playground

Posted

BRIDGEPORT – A project that began with a grant application last fall culminated in a ribbon-cutting for a new playground at Bridgeport Elementary School last Monday, April 8.

School superintendent Scott Sattler with staff and school board representatives present wielded a pair of giant scissors to cut a length of red ribbon as scores of anxious Bridgeport elementary students waited for their chance to try out the new installation.

Sattler said he applied for a school modernization grant through the Washington State Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Along with the request for funds went photos of the old Mega Mansion complex “that was falling apart,” said Sattler, and a statement describing the need for a new playground.

“We were notified around mid-November that we received the grant,” said Sattler, “and we got enough money ($141,000) to do all of the construction, and we used every penny.”

Sattler said the school reached to a playground vendor, Cascade Recreation from University Place in western Washington for help with design elements and other issues.

Cascade representatives even engaged the kids for ideas and suggestions about what they wanted to see as part of their playground.

In an earlier ceremony last fall, Sattler and staff gathered the students together to witness school maintenance personnel unearth and open a time capsule buried on the site of the earlier Mega Mansion playground paid for and built by community volunteers 25 years ago.

Mega Mansion was an ambitious, expensive and elaborate all-wood complex that served the elementary for a quarter of a century until it became too much of a hazard. Visitors to the elementary can see a display of photos and the time capsule contents in the entry lobby.

Meanwhile, the new installation, painted bright Bridgeport orange and with gray accents, is getting thoroughly kid-tested and approved in ways that even Underwriters Laboratories could not imagine.

 

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here