Installation of the new inclusive playground at Kennebunk Elementary School is nearly complete, and Anush Hansen, Erin O’Reilly Jakan and Jessica Winters couldn’t be happier. The quest began before COVID, a project of Kennebunk Elementary Parent Teacher Association and others. Meant for use by KES students during school hours, it will be open to the wider community outside school hours. Tammy Wells photo

KENNEBUNK – In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, workers were busy putting together a big, new playground designed for kids of varying abilities to use and have fun.

Located on the grounds of Kennebunk Elementary School, the new playground will allow children of every ability to play, and parents, grandparents and others who might have mobility issues, to get close enough to watch them.

Erin O’Reilly Jakan, Anush Hansen and Jessica Winters, who have been involved with the planning for and procurement of the inclusive playground, were at the site Nov. 22 as the installers worked, and it was plain to see that they were nearing the end.

The playground could be finished within the next several days. Crews from Maine Recreation and Design, of Brunswick, have been working day and night to get it done.

It is a dream – one that has included a lot of work– about to come true.

The operator of this front end loader works on the inclusive playground at Kennebunk Elementary School on Nov 22. The crew from Maine Recreation and Design has been working days, evenings and some nights to get the project finished. Tammy Wells photo

All playgrounds are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, said Hansen, but the new playground taking shape at Kennebunk Elementary School goes above and beyond that standard.

The vivid yellow and blue design is meant for high visibility, particularly for someone with sight impairment. The new playground is higher off the ground than a traditional one, so one can see underneath.  There is a rest spot  at each ramp level and there are horizontal bars for grabbing as a youngster heads up the ramp. There are covered towers, to provide shade, and more.

There are slides, monkey bars and climbing structures, a rock wall, lily pad steppingstones and more.

“We’re absolutely thrilled,” said Winters, who said her kids, now in grades 4 and 7 but who were much younger when the quest began, “can’t wait.”

The quest for a new playground started a few years ago, before COVID, said O’Reilly Jakan, and early in the process the Kennebunk Elementary Parent Teacher Association and others involved decided on one that could be used by all young people.

Then came the drive to raise money to make it happen.

This is one of the signs made by students at Kennebunk Elementary School, expressing thanks for the new inclusive playground, which is undergoing the final stages of construction. It has been a community effort, funded by many generous donors, those who spearheaded the project say. Tammy Wells photo

Hansen was the grant writer of the group, making appeals to foundations, banks, and other organizations, who responded with donations. There were contributions from students, like $1,000 raised by the third-grade class at Sea Road School who were preschoolers at Kennebunk Elementary School when the quest for a new playground began.

Students who had attended the school when they were younger, but now attend Sea Road School and Middle School of the Kennebunks, raised $2,000.

An early large donation, $25,000, came in 2019 as Kennebunk Savings marked 25 years of its community giving program.

There were many, many donors, said O’Reilly Jakan, the project leader, but COVID happened in 2020, supply chain and other issues resulted – and prices went up.

Eventually, the group was able to order the playground, doing so in December 2021 and so avoiding another price increase set to arrive in January 2022. Supply chain issues, however, meant installation would be delayed.

Instead of $150,000, the playground itself cost about $183,000, O’Reilly Jakan said, and there are installation and other expenses, adding up to a total of about $250,000.

“We’ve had really generous donors,” said O’Reilly Jakan, and some have made second and third contributions – noting the Tommy McNamara Fund, Wyatt Frost Foundation, Webhannet Charitable Foundation among others. Regional School District 21 also stepped up with a contribution.

“With the price increase, we weren’t sure we would make it,” said O’Reilly Jakan.

But they did.

The playground will be available to students  during school hours, and to the community outside school hours.

A ribbon cutting open house will be scheduled for spring.

Meanwhile, the installation crew continues its work. When finished, the playground will undergo an inspection and then formally gifted to the school.

“We want this to be a destination playground,” said O’Reilly Jakan.