CAPE ELIZABETH – A community-wide campaign to raise $50,000 for a new, centrally located playground in Cape Elizabeth is under way.

So far, about $1,300 has been collected, said Kelly Phinney, youth programs coordinator at Community Services on Ocean House Road, where the new structure, suitable for children ages 3-12, would be built.

Called the Playspace for Cape Care Campaign, the plan is to construct a playground, with a jungle gym, swings, slides and more, for Cape Care preschoolers and children in the aftercare program and summer camp programs, said Phinney. Cape Care is a municipal day care. When Cape Care programs are not in session, she said, the playground would be available for other children in the community to use.

A committee consisting of Cape Care’s director, Gay Sampson, two local parents, a local teacher and Phinney, was formed this summer to organize the campaign.

On Sunday, Dec. 7, Cape Care is hosting a gingerbread house-decorating event – Merry Houses for Merry-Go-Rounds – at the Community Services building on Ocean House Road from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. to raise money for the new playground. The cost is $25 per gingerbread kit, and all of the proceeds will go toward the Playspace Fund, according to Phinney.

Located at Cape Elizabeth Community Services, Cape Care Preschool serves children ages 3-5. But they have no safe place to play outdoors, Phinney said.

“It’s important for children to play,” because of the social aspect, and motor skills they gain, said Phinney.

Part of the children’s daily activities have included playing on the old playground at Cape Elizabeth High School, until it was deemed unsafe. That playground, initially built for kindergartners in the early 1990s, was partially torn down last summer, said Phinney.

“There is no place around our building that has any kind of structures or safe area for them to play,” Phinney said.

The committee’s first fundraising event was held Nov. 18 at Elsmere BBQ & Wood Grill in South Portland, where 8 percent of food sales was set aside for the new playground. Several other fundraising events will be held throughout the year, said Phinney.

Tickets for the gingerbread house decorating event on Dec. 7 are limited and must be purchased in advance by calling Community Services at 799-2868. In addition, anyone can donate by dropping off cash or a check to Cape Elizabeth Community Services at 343 Ocean House Road, said Phinney.

According to Phinney, the goal of the Cape Care Campaign is to raise funds to restructure the end of the Community Services parking lot facing the high school, and to prepare the site for safe play. This includes growing grass and installing a fence to protect the children from traffic, she said.

The most important aspect of the campaign is to purchase and install a playground that is safe and “developmentally appropriate” for children ages 3-12.

“We need about $10,000-$15,000 for site prep work and to get the area ready, and about another $35,000-$40,000 for structures,” Phinney said. “We can’t do anything until we get some (more) money.”

One parent, Terri Maher, who serves on the campaign committee, said the project started earlier this year after learning that the playground at the high school was “crumbling and falling apart.”

“A preschool has to have a playground, not just to benefit the kids, but to benefit the preschool itself,” said Maher, who has one child in the Cape Care Program.

Maher encourages the community to attend Merry Houses for Merry-Go-Rounds, and other future events organized by the committee, not only to support the playground project, but to meet other people and to generally have a good time.

“We wanted to find activities that we thought would be appealing for people of children of all ages, particularly pre-school age,” Maher said.

According to Maher, a timeline for the project has yet to be determined. The playground may even eventually include a small vegetable garden for the students in the Cape Care summer program, Maher said.

“I think it would be great if we could at least get the site prep done before the end of the year so the kids could at least have a safe place to run around,” Maher said.

She said while the playground would directly benefit the kids in the Cape Care program, it would also have “a big community impact,” as it will be centrally located on Ocean House Road.

According to campaign organizers, the pre-school and pre-kindergarten kids either play at the high school track, on the grass, or remaining equipment at the old kindergarten playground at the high school. On rainy days, they play inside the community room at Community Services.

Tracy Northup, another parent and campaign committee member, said she believes providing a new playground is important for several reasons.

First, Cape Care offers a “high quality” pre-school and pre-kindergarten program “with very well-qualified teachers and a robust curriculum,” she said. In addition, it is affordable and accessible, she said, and “has great value for residents of Cape.”

“A proper early childhood education program absolutely must have ample opportunity for healthy exercise and outdoor play,” Northup said. “You simply can’t raise healthy and happy children without it.”

The new playground will be a “wonderful asset to all children” in the community, Northup said.

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A CLOSER LOOK

On Sunday, Dec. 7, Cape Care is hosting a gingerbread house-decorating event – Merry Houses for Merry-Go-Rounds – at the Community Services building on Ocean House Road from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. to raise money for the new playground. The cost is $25 per gingerbread kit, and all of the proceeds will go toward the Playspace Fund. Tickets for the Dec. 7 event are limited and must be purchased in advance by calling Community Services at 799-2868.

A $50,000 campaign, launched by a committee of educators and local parents last summer, would ultimately support the construction of new playground on the grounds of Cape Elizabeth Community Services. Shown here is a portion of the parking lot facing the high school on Ocean House Road that would be reconstructed to provide a safe, grassy play area for children ages 3-12.