Kenner Special Playground

We knew with a big project like this we'd have to raise a lot of money, but luckily as a Parks and Recreation Dept, we have (if not the funds) the capacity, the infrastructure and the history behind us to apply for large grants. We applied for the federal Land & Water Conservation Fund grant that is administered at the state level (in each state), and this year we were awarded. Before applying of course there was a lot of planning that went into putting the project together, and the city is still responsible for 50% of the cost, but this is a HUGE help. For the remainder of costs we will be looking at smaller grants, community donations, and the non-profit Kenner Community Dream Builders has already raised some funds.

I attended a We Play! Workshop a couple years ago and these are the steps that helped me the most during planning.

We have involved city officials, teachers, parents, school administrators, orthopedists, pediatricians and other community members in our planning process. We can also involve local businesses, religious groups, adults with disabilities, civic associations, the media and children!

We researched many vendors, including Game Time, Play & Park Structures, many of those listed on the Kaboom site, as well as a few endorsed by Boundless Playgrounds. We decided on Little Tykes because they had a model that was close to what we were looking for. With a few edits, we have chosen a model (see photos).

The playground will be built at Kenner City Park at 3800 Loyola Ave. We, the City of Kenner Parks and Recreation Dept, own the land, and there are already features built here. There is a large pavilion, a walking track which will be extended in later phases, a tot lot, ponds and wildlife.

The City of Kenner and Kenner Community Dream Builders, Inc. want to build a playground where children of all abilities can play together. There are so many children in the surrounding area (9.5% in Kenner) with disabilities and no playground of this kind that we decided to try to build one. The project has been in the planning stages for quite some time, but we have recently taken the next few steps to create a model, get the community involved, and begin fundraising. Here's to completing the playground!