**GOOD NEWS!**
We’re thrilled to announce that the Friends of Balboa Park Playground (FOBPP), in collaboration with NPC, were awarded a $75,000 Community Challenge Grant in March to build an ADA accessible pathway from San Jose Avenue to the new playground that was built on March 4th. Currently, the only paved access to the playground also doubles as the only road leading to the Ingleside police station. This has long posed a safety hazard to both playground users and the police officers who have to speed through the road in order to answer emergency calls. The new pathway will provide safe access to the brand new playground.
ABOUT THE BALBOA REBUILD
On Tuesday, March 4, 2008 more than 475 adults and 100 children descended upon Balboa Park in the Mission Terrace neighborhood for a community build day. Click here for a special ABC News video report.
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This is a Flickr badge showing items in a set called Balboa Playground Build Day: March 4, 2008. Make your own badge here.
The goal was to assemble a beautiful new play structure in one day. With generous funding and volunteer support from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), working with the non-profit KaBOOM!, the Friends of Balboa Park Playground took their failing playground--old and unsafe for so many years--and made it into a destination for children across the neighborhood. Hats off to the staff of the Recreation and Parks Department (RPD) for their hard work demolishing the old play structure and installing a new concrete pad for the new playground.
The new playground still needs to have the rubber fall surfacing installed and a few more construction details to be finished before we can all celebrate with a grand opening party. When it does open, the bright green-, orange- and plum-colored playground will feature a tot lot for children 2-5 years old, as well as a larger play area, including a rock-climbing wall for older kids.Building a playground in a single day is a thrill, though it is only successful when thousands of hours of work precede it. Click here to read more about the history and development of the Balboa Playground project.
NPC is committed to raising the grade of our City’s failing play structures though leveraging private resources against city money takes a collaborative approach and many dedicated people.
Congratulations and thank you to the Friends of Balboa Park Playground, AAOS, KaBOOM! and RPD for making this build a reality!
