FREEPORT

Elementary students at Mast Landing School in Freeport won’t have to wait much longer for the installation of their new playground — provided the Regional School Unit 5 budget passes.

Danielle Peterson, chairperson of the playground committee, said the school has been fundraising for a year and a half to replace unsafe equipment. In total, the project is estimated to cost a little more than $55,000.

A substantial grant from L.L. Bean, a matching grant from Bowdoin College, and contributions from community members and businesses have raised enough funds to complete the second phase in a two-phase construction process, Peterson said.

“We’ve been at this for about a year and a half,” Peterson said. “Two (autumns) ago, a playground inspector said the playground was deemed unfit for children’s use.”

The woodchips below the equipment weren’t high enough to meet the new requirements and some of the equipment was badly damaged, she said.

“There was a split in the metal on the monkey bars, and other safety concerns,” Peterson said. “The inspector closed the playground, and it was a full year before the kids had any kind of equipment back there.”

Mast Landing School Principal Beth Willhoite sent a letter out to parents to start a playground committee to address the loss of equipment, Peterson said.

“The playground was as old as the school,” Willhoite said, noting it was approximately 20 years old. “It was built at a time when playgrounds didn’t have to meet the codes they do now, so most of it was off-limits.”

Joel St. Pierre, a certified park and recreation professional, designed the playground using Landscape Structures playground equipment.

Willhoite said that Mast Landing’s physical education teacher, Robin O’Connor, was largely involved in the design as were the students, who participated in a school-wide survey to select playground equipment.

“The kids’ voice was very present in this process,” she said. “We’re pretty much there, the only reason we’re not doing the build this spring is we have to make sure we can get the money in the school budget.”

Last September, the first phase of construction was completed during a Community Build Day, hosted by the playground committee.

“It’s been amazing,” said Peterson. “As soon as you get the word out to the community that the kids don’t have a playground, people immediately ask what they can do to help.”

L.L. Bean awarded the school a $10,000 grant for playground construction and Bowdoin College recently awarded the school the $2,500 Bowdoin College Common Good Grant.

“It’s a matching grant, so we sent a letter out to parents asking them if they were interested in contributing to match the college grant,” Peterson said. “Just in response to that, we had $3,200 pledged by families,” she said, noting that parent donations over the span of both phases have totaled more than $19,000.

As a capital project, RSU 5 budgeted $10,000 toward the first phase of construction last year, and is looking to invest another $10,000 in the coming fiscal year. The RSU 5 budget validation referendum will be held June 10.

If the budget doesn’t pass, Peterson said, the committee will either have to continue fundraising or eliminate some equipment from the design.

“We’ve had bottle drives and a penny drive, we’ve sold poinsettias and held fundraisers at Gritty McDuff ’s Brew Pub and Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro,” Peterson said. “There have been so many fundraisers.”

Currently, the playground committee plans undertake another Community Build Day for the second phase of construction in late summer and hopes the playground will be completed by September for the 2014-15 school year.

“We’ve added an accessibility ramp and a couple of picnic benches to make it more useable for the community,” Peterson said. “Freeport is a tourist town, so we invite everybody.

“If the school budget vote goes through, we will have reached our goal,” she added. “If it does not, we’ll lose some equipment, the picnic tables and benches.”

Mast Landing School, located at 20 Mollymauk Lane — off Bow Street — in Freeport, serves grades 3 to 5.

rgargiulo@timesrecord.com