Saxonburg cuts ribbon on new playground at Roebling Park
SAXONBURG — Intermittent rain couldn’t keep the children of Saxonburg away from the borough’s newest attraction: the playground at Roebling Park.
The Saxonburg Area Rotary Club, which conceived and spearheaded the project, officially dedicated the playground with a ceremony on Sunday, Nov. 9.
“Rotary is about bringing people together to make a difference and the playground is a shining example of this spirit,” said Phil Wain, president of the Rotary Club. “Our motto is Service above self.”
“It is the children who truly bring this playground to life and it absolutely warms our hearts to see them and families enjoying this playground together,” said Karen Antoszyk, Rotarian in charge.
Borough council approved a memorandum of understanding to allow the Rotary to construct a playground at Roebling Park, a borough-owned property. The Rotary had abandoned a previous attempt to build on another borough-owned parcel of land due to space constraints.
Antoszyk called the playground a “forever goal” for the borough, which had reportedly never had a playground within its boundaries until this year.
“This playground has been built for the community and by the community,” Antoszyk said. “No government funding and no grants.”
Fred Caesar, recently-retired curator of the Saxonburg Museum, said he’s overjoyed with the new addition to the property.
“When I was at the museum, people were talking about how they wish there were more activities for kids,” Caesar said. “It's finally come around and it's so great to see so many people of different ages. Grandparents are bringing kids. Mothers are bringing kids and, after school, there's kids coming by. It's obviously something that people really wanted and needed and I'm so thrilled to see this.”
Although the playground wasn’t officially dedicated until Sunday, children had already been playing on it for over a week prior, as nearly all of the equipment was in place.
“The benefits to our community have been clear. The park has not been empty since the playground has been open for play,” said borough council President Aaron Piper. “Families with young children now have a safe, inclusive place to meet and play. It is bringing more people to town so that they can see what we already know and love.”
“What an amazing accomplishment we have down here,” said borough manager Steven May. “The parking lot in the park has been absolutely full pretty much every day. It's being used constantly. We have families, not even from Saxonburg, but just around the area, come down to play all the time.”
According to Antoszyk, the Rotary Club is just over 80% of the way to reaching its fundraising goal of $225,000 for the playground. A large chunk of those funds came from the sale of personalized fence slats which were placed around the perimeter of the playground. For $175 each, the buyer could have a custom message placed on a fence slat.
“There are approximately 400 available. We have sold approximately 175,” Antoszyk said. “The orders are really coming in fast now that people are seeing them.”
The Rotary is also looking for bronze, silver, gold, diamond and platinum-level sponsors for a special donor plaque to be placed near the park entrance.
Although the playground was officially dedicated on Sunday, Antoszyk says it isn’t 100% finished, as some components have yet to be installed.
“We still have ‘buddy benches’ that are coming in,” Antoszyk said. “We will have stone pillars built that will hold the arch which is going to have the name of the playground on it.”
