PORT ANGELES — Janet Young’s dream playground for Shane Park is finally tangible.
Young, who started a community fundraising campaign to build a state-of-the-art play area for the park in west Port Angeles, got to see the disassembled playground equipment when it arrived at a city storage facility Monday.
She was joined by dignitaries from the city of Port Angeles.
The Shane Park Playground Committee still needs to come up with $15,000 for concrete and remaining safety tiles that will surround the 6,000-square-foot playset at the park between Sixth and Eighth streets and E and G streets.
The playground equipment will be installed on the northwest side of the park sometime this summer.
It features several slides, climbing walls, swings and an upside-down merry-go-round.
“Wow,” said Young when asked about the equipment.
“It looked beautiful. For one thing, it was way bigger than I thought it would be. It was huge.
“I was very impressed and very excited about it.”
The park has a special meaning for Young, whose son, Shane Fowler, died after a 4-foot-diameter concrete ring that was standing upright fell on top of him at the park in 1973.
Shane, 9, died 11 days later. The park was named in his honor.
For nearly two years, Young has galvanized the community through a series of fundraisers to help the city complete the much-needed upgrade at one of Port Angeles’ larger parks.
Young is president of the committee, but she’s had plenty of support from people like committee Vice President Amy Billings and Port Angeles Mayor Cherie Kidd.
“That Janet, she’s amazing,” Kidd said.
“Here’s a woman who came to me almost two years ago saying, ‘I have this idea, and I don’t know what to do about it.’”
“It was her vision and her spirit,” Kidd added.
“She pulled this community together. I’m just one of many volunteers who lined up behind her.”
To date, about $131,000 has been raised for the project, with $50,000 coming from donations and another $81,000 from the city, Port Angeles Parks and Streets Superintendent Corey Delikat said.
The remaining $15,000 will pay for cement and rubber safety tiles that will provide a soft landing surface for playing children.
The new playground will be fully accessible by wheelchair.
Young, who lives on Sixth Street across from the park, often sees children at their parents’ softball games with nothing to do.
She speculated that the new playground equipment will attract more teams to Shane Park.
“We might get more ballplayers there,” she said.
Young said she was particularly impressed with a playground feature known as the “Neutron Spinner,” an upside-down merry-go-round that rotates around a pole as kids try to hang on.
“That part, along with the swings, will go into Phase 2,” Young said.
Delikat said Phase 1 includes most of the playground. Phase 2 is a swing set and the spinning apparatus.
Citing the momentum of the fundraising effort, Delikat said he is confident the project will be completed by the end of the summer.
A groundbreaking ceremony will take place in about a month, he said.
The Shane Park Playground Committee will host a bunko dice game with a 50-50 drawing at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 26, at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St.
Kidd said the success of the previous fundraisers is a testament to Young and “a credit to the community spirit here in Port Angeles.”
“It came from her heart,” Kidd said.
“That’s why it caught on.
“Her inspiration will change that park forever.”
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
