More than 60 volunteers gathered Thursday at Stan’s Park in Blue Island to build a new community and child-designed playground in six hours.
While construction on the playground, at 2235 Burr Oak Ave., officially began Tuesday, the volunteers built the majority of the equipment, spread mulch and painted the sidewalk as part of a nationwide effort by Foresters Financial and Kaboom! aiming to end playspace inequity.
Blue Island Treasurer Nancy Rita, who is also an administrator at Eisenhower High School, said she was excited to reunite with a few graduates who volunteered and work with area residents she had never met, children and city administrators.
“It was a really fun day,” Rita said. “To just talk and connect and have a common goal was really, it was awesome.”
The playground features age-appropriate and accessible play structures designed to promote physical activity, creativity and social interaction among children of all abilities, according to a Kaboom! statement. Volunteers also painted games and welcoming messages along the park’s sidewalk.
Foresters Financial, which helped fund the playground, brought its own volunteers, along with Allstate Financial Partners. Some volunteers traveled from other states and even Canada.
State and local lawmakers took part in an ribbon-cutting ceremony, where they spoke to the importance of the remodeled green space.
The playground is especially important, said state Rep. Bob Rita, a Democrat from Blue Island, because it gives neighborhood residents a green space that’s accessible without crossing the busy road or train tracks that surround the area, said
It’s an investment in the community, Rita said.
Blue Island Mayor Fred Bilotto said the park is important because the city does not have enough green spaces, so existing parks are heavily used, resulting in increased wear and tear that requires more frequent maintenance.
Bilotto, who was once on the park board, said the community comes together and takes pride in a space when they’re involved in its construction, whether that’s through taxpayer dollars or volunteering.
“A lot of the neighbors watch over the park and take ownership, saying ‘I put that swing there,’ or ‘I put that there,’ which keeps the maintenance down a lot for the department,” Bilotto said.
Rep. Rita said open green spaces and good parks programming bring together a wide range of people, from young children to seniors. The playground construction, he said, also brought together together city, Park District and state officials, which he said is sometimes rare.
“You have all levels of governments working together, and that’s where you get a great result,” Rita said.
Rita and Bilotto said they often drive past the lot where the playground now stands. The lot was most recently an empty field after unsafe playground equipment was taken down, and they said they’re excited to see the community using the space again.
Stan’s Park was named after a maintenance director who worked for the Blue Island Park District for more than 50 years, Bilotto said. The playground constructed Thursday marks the city’s fourth collaboration with Kaboom! since the early 2000s, he said.
“This has been a longtime thing,” Bilotto said.
He said the city will continue to colloborate with the program.
The playground also marks the 177th park that Foresters and Kaboom! have completed in collaboration with Allstate Financial Services.
Volunteers were asked Thursday to raise their hands if they had helped with construction on other play spaces, and several volunteers said they have helped with more than 70 playgrounds. One volunteer said he has helped with 130 playgrounds.
Matt Berman, president and CEO of Forester Financials, helped with playground construction Thursday and said building playgrounds is investing in future generations, a mission he said aligns with Foresters’ values as a life insurance company that relies on promises made far into the future.
“What better way to support families, communities that may be underserved, than through children,” Berman said Thursday. “The world needs more investment in the future.”
awright@chicagotribune.com
