Mission Playpark Accomplished- Opening Ceremonies March 10th!

[GoodWitch58]

darn, wish I could be there with my grandchildren...have to work that day. Such a good example of what can happen when we all work together on a positive project.

It's a great playground!

 

[scooterbug44]

Woo-hoo!

 

[Jdarg]

South Walton gets new playground at Helen McCall Park | new, walton, park - WaltonSun.com

SANTA ROSA BEACH ? Walton County will debut a new playground this week at Helen McCall Park.
Mission Play Park, which is already open to families, will hold an official grand opening at 10 a.m. Thursday.
The playground has been in the works since 2006 when several South Walton moms approached the county about building a park for younger children.
?A bunch of moms said they?d really like a playground ? where kids can meet one another,? said Cathy Potter, a Santa Rosa Beach resident who was involved in planning the park. ?There really wasn?t anything south of the bridge where you could do that.?
The new park, which sits at the end of Moll Drive, has a toddler area and also features a variety of climbing features, slides, seesaws and other play equipment. It also includes a new pavilion with restrooms, sidewalks and benches.
The new playground is located at Helen McCall Park, which offers several sports fields. A new 80-space parking area is under construction and will serve both the playground and the surrounding park.
Potter said the playground has almost every feature local moms wanted.
?We?d love to have some kind of water feature,? she said. ?It gets so hot. It?d be nice to be able to cool down.?
Potter said there was no money in the budget for fountains or another kind of water feature this year.
She said she has driven by the park and seen families gathering at the playground.
?I?m pretty happy with how it turned out,? Potter said. ?It?s definitely being used.?

 

[Kurt]

Congrats and a huge thank you to everyone involved!

Defuniak Herald ? Mission Play Park opens in Santa Rosa Beach

Story by DOTTY NIST

In Santa Rosa Beach on March 10, the opening of something new to the area was celebrated, a children?s public playground with swings, climbing equipment, slides, seesaws, and a number of other activities.

A local group of mothers of small children had sowed the seed for the park several years ago by approaching the Walton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) with the request for such a facility. With the number of children in the area on the rise, the mothers saw the need for a playground in the local area to help children get outdoor exercise and recreation and allow families to connect.

The mothers named their group ?Mission Play Park!? Cindy Meadows, District 5 commissioner at the time of the mothers? request, offered assistance and proposed putting the playground in place on land that had been purchased by the county next to Helen McCall Park on Moll Drive. Current District 5 Commissioner Cecilia Jones, who succeeded Meadows in 2008, enthusiastically took up the cause of the project upon taking office.

The BCC awarded a $55,000 bid for engineering services to Preble-Rish in 2008 for the design and permitting of the play park. Gum Creek Farms and J.A. Dawson were enlisted as contractors for the site work and playground, which cost approximately $353,506.

Throughout the project, the Mission Play Park! mothers, including Jenny Dargavell, Cathy Potter, Rhonda Cloutier, and Denise Leblanc, continuously provided input with the planning and construction.

?We are just so thrilled with this,? Dargavell commented at the March 10 grand opening for the park. She recalled the ?long winter? during which she and the other Mission Play Park! mothers conceived the idea for the park. She credited the local Sowal.com Internet message board for helping the group connect and mobilize.

?We are a community here, we?re not just tourists,? Dargavell said of south Walton County.

After expressing thanks to Jones, Dargavell told the gathering, ?We have other projects in mind, so stay tuned.?

Jones complimented the Mission Play Park! mothers on their ?Cadillac taste? which, she commented, was something she shared with them. She credited their input for the shaping of the park into a quality facility for the community.

Jones was eager for the opportunity to enjoy the park with her 2-year-old grandson.

The dozens of children attending the park grand opening with their parents were quick to try out the park equipment.

?We just love it,? said Sonia Pascalli, an organizer for the Santa Rosa Beach Mommies social play group. Pascalli was accompanied by her son James.

The Santa Rosa Beach Mommies group was started via the online social networking portal ?Meetup.com? with the aim of helping community families with young children, especially those new to the area, get acquainted and spend time together. Pascalli said that up to now the parents and children have had to travel to play parks in the Destin, Panama City Beach, or Freeport areas.

In addition to swings, slides, climbing and other equipment, the new park features a covered pavilion, sidewalks, tables and benches, along with restrooms. Large oak trees on the site provide shade.

The addition of a water feature, a splash pad, is planned soon.

Currently under construction adjacent to the play park is a $140,000, 80-space parking lot that will serve both the park and the sports fields of Helen McCall Park. The park is located south of U.S. 98 on Moll Drive, a short distance west of the U.S. 98/CR-393 intersection.

 

[GoodWitch58]

My grandchildren and I love the park. Many thanks to all who worked so hard for it. Can't wait for the splash pad...what a terrific idea!

 

[sunspotbaby]

Just got back from the park. Picked up trash. The bathrooms look like a raccoon has been in there unrolling paper.

We love it!

 

[US98 Sports]

Good work, gang!

 

[scooterbug44]

I love the sign!

 

[US98 Sports]

You can thank one Billy Johnson for the design. As usual, his work is really quite good!

And, does anyone else think it is about time Helen McCall Park had its own website? Imagine how even a little organization for the facility would help facilitate and benefit events of all description there. And the marketing aspects would benefit all members of the community, whether they use the park regularly or not, with an increase of revenues for the park and surrounding areas.

Check out what Freeport is doing, way ahead of the curve: Regional Sports Complex

 

[GoodWitch58]

Love the sign--great work, Billy! Think the idea of a website is a good one too. We have such talent and enthusiasm in this community!