Emporia’s noon Rotary Club donated $2,000 to the Peter Pan Park playground project today, bringing the project to about half of the $37,500 it needs.
Cynthia Patton, club president, said the money would be earmarked for two purposes. Part could be used for the main “playground village” while the rest would be spent on four benches.
“We love the idea of inviting older members of the family to come to the playground,” Patton said, explaining the benches.
Half of the donation comes from the Emporia Rotary Club while the rest is a matching grant from Rotary International. A similar grant last year helped the club pay for an activity play station at the Emporia Public Library.
The playground was initially the graduation project of the Leadership Emporia class of 2004, but was dropped when it became too big to handle. Some of the class members continued to raise funds for it and are now far enough along that a building date has been announced.
Robin Nelson, one of the project’s organizers, said the community will be invited to help build the playground between Sept. 25 and Sept. 30.
“We want to do it this year with the 150th birthday of Emporia,” Nelson said. She said the St. Patrick’s Day committee has also agreed to donate to the project this year and that supporters would have a booth at the Spring Expo.
The playground was designed by the Ithaca, N.Y., firm Leathers & Associates, after discussions with a number of schoolchildren in the community. The company custom-designs playgrounds, using natural wood whenever possible.
Those interested in donating to the project or wanting more information can call Nelson at 342-1600.