October 25, 2010

By: Kevin L. from Chalmette, LA
Comments: 21

Posted By: Kevin Loria
On: 2/5/2008 7:06:07 PM

This past week the events were set into motion to have Chalmette's city park playground rebuilt. The original playground was partially restored following Katrina only to suffer major damage due to arson over a month ago. The original designer was called in interview local school children to get a feel for what they wanted and within 4 hours he reinvented the space on paper. In the same amount of time, I was asked to reinvent the promotional designs for project tees using characters I had created (also with student input) based on the original project fund drive. This time we have the funds, much of which was donated by the Meraux Foundation, so we are able to begin at a break-neck speed and have a 5-day build starting April 9th. We will have some community fund-raising in order to generate community awareness and ownership of the project (including a penny collection from elementary and high-school students).

Posted By: Kelly McCartney
On: 2/9/2008 10:17:23 PM

Kevin, that is so great! I can't wait to hear more about the details of the project. I am also interested in helping rebuild, if volunteers are needed. What a great design project for the students to help design the t-shirts! How fun! Good luck, and keep me postes as to the progress.

Posted By: Keith Lewis
On: 2/12/2008 10:09:56 AM

Kevin, I remember hearing about the playground arson on the news and thought, how cruel someone can be to set ablaze one of the few spots that families could go and enjoy an afternoon. I am so glad that the playground has the support of the community to be rebuilt so fast. It's another fine example of the resilience that Chalmette has and proof it is coming back. Keith

Posted By: Delease Nevels
On: 2/18/2008 9:48:25 AM

Kevin, I heard about the playground arson and read about it in the newspaper. That was a cruel thing to happen to your neighborhood. Nevels

Posted By: Delease Nevels
On: 2/18/2008 9:53:07 AM

Kevin a design about your neighborhood should be an wonderful task especially when children will have a great place to play. Exercise is crucial for the children in New Orleans to have fun.

Posted By: Erin Jacobs
On: 2/22/2008 10:56:45 AM

This is such an exciting project. Just out of curiosity, how did the designer gather input from students? I'm working on an elementary unit around designing play spaces and would love to know more about how this project is progressing and what the student's involvement looks like. This just aired yesterday and it seems like a great synopsis of the value of spaces that allow unstructured play. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19212514

Posted By: Natashia James
On: 2/27/2008 12:47:56 PM

Kevin, I also heard about the arson on the news. I think it's a shame that something like this has happened. Fortunately, you guys have pulled together to do something about it. Parks can be very helpful resource these days for children especially post Kartina. It's sounds like a great project! Keep us posted.

Posted By: Curt Uebelhor
On: 11/26/2009 4:36:22 PM

I am in the process of submitting a lesson plan that has middle schoolers redesigning the playgrounds that they just left behind. It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

Posted By: Debbie Taylor
On: 11/30/2009 10:43:15 PM

Curt..I'd like to know more of what you mean by redesigning playgrounds that they just left behind. Do you mean redesigning playgrounds left behind from elementary school?