Partners of Parks Long Beach (POP) has ordered new playground equipment for Admiral Kidd Park, the nonprofit announced April 19.
The playground located at Admiral Kidd Park was burned down last July under suspicious circumstances.
“It’s been a real hardship for those families, I think, who have kept their kids at home this year for online schooling because they’ve got no outdoor space,” Partners of Parks Executive Director, Trinka Roswell said. “Yes, there’s green space in the park. That’s not the same as having an actual play structure to play on.”
According to Roswell, all that was left of the playground after the fire was a play structure for 2- to 5-year-olds and a swing set.
“As soon as the playground burned down, kids stopped coming to the Be Safe Program,” Roswell said. “The teens just stopped showing up because there was no place for them to be. It was sort of depressing. “
POP began raising funds for a new playground on Oct. 7, 2021, and provided a $10,000 funding match. As of April 19, POP has raised $450,000.
The Earl B. and Loraine H. Miller Foundation, Marathon Petroleum Foundation, Amazon, The New L Family Fund and Junior League of Long Beach all contributed to the campaign.
In October 2021, POP announced that the new playground would have a handicap-accessible ramp and an OmniSpin Spinner, a piece of playground equipment that is inclusive for children in wheelchairs and other mobility devices.
The Long Beach City Council identified the handicapped-accessible playground design for Admiral Kidd Playground as a high-priority project to spend surplus funds on when it adopted the 2022 budget in August 2021.
The City of Long Beach recently announced that an estimated $1 million in surplus budget funds from Measure A will be used to complete the project after Partners of Parks completes all its funding requests.
The public is able to purchase commemorative bricks with a name or message for $300 or $600. Profits from brick sales will be used on surfacing, foundation, storage, building and permit costs for the playground.
While POP doesn’t have a timeline yet for when the new playground will open, according to Roswell the company POP has purchased from estimates it will take 16 weeks to build the equipment.
“It’s going to be a beautiful space when it’s all done,” Roswell said.
Those who wish to purchase a brick or donate to the park can visit www.tinyurl.com/helpkidd.
