Playground project seeks help
CRANBERRY TWP — The Cranberry Township Community Chest's Community Project of the Year, Kids Castle, is coming into the homestretch for both fundraising and construction.
“When it's all said and done, more than 5,000 people will have had a hand in its building (Kids Castle),” said Bruce Mazzoni, treasurer for the community chest.
Kids Castle will have three thematic play areas: Cranberry Yesterday, Cranberry Today and Cranberry Tomorrow.
Mazzoni said the fund drive has raised about $400,000, but still has $50,000 to $60,000 to go. The drive that is expected to wrap up by the end of this month.
“We're hoping a lot of the last-minute people and people that have indicated they wanted to donate, but just haven't got around to it will help get us to the goal,” said Mazzoni.
The dedication for the new playground will be in September.
Construction of the Cranberry Today section will need 400 volunteers over five days from July 31 to Aug. 4 to build.
Mazzoni said they're still looking for volunteers to sign up at the CTCC or at the township websites to help with construction or to donate.
This year, CTCC asked children in the township to sketch what they wanted the Today section of Kids Castle playground to include.
Altogether, 3,500 students from the Seneca Valley School District, St. Kilian Catholic School and other schools submitted drawings. Twenty-five volunteers reviewed them and selected the most popular features for the design.
The most requested features included a brightly colored structure with multiple-stories and platforms. Children wanted to be able to ascend and descend the structure in interesting ways, including climbing rocks, slides, posts, and climbing poles of different sizes and shapes.
An entrance gate to the playground will incorporate two of the spires from the former Playtime Palace play area.
Construction will require volunteers working from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in three 4.5 hour shifts for July 31 to Aug. 4.
To sign up for one or more shifts, go to either the township website, www.cranberrytownship.org, or the CTCC website, www.ctcchest.org, and click on “Sign Up to Help Build Kids Castle.”
Once the Today section of the playground is completed, commercial fixtures for the other sections, as well as the landscaping, will be installed in August. Additional volunteers will be needed at that time.
