Fundraising Campaign Starts For All Abilities Playground At Heather Farm Park

Buy a brick and help build a new all abilities playground at Heather Farm Park.

The Walnut Creek Civic Pride Foundation has begun a fundraising campaign to help pay for the $1.2 million playground.

The new 30,000-square-foot facility will replace the current playground near the Clarke Memorial Swim Center.

Contra Costa County park funds are paying for almost $500,000 of the project. Money from Measure WW park funds is taking care another $350,000. The city is allocating $75,000 of its park funds.

That leaves $320,000 to be raised in private donations.

Sandra Jacobsen, a member of the pride foundation board, said the response has been good so far.

In fact, the group bumped its fundraising goal to help pay for shock-absorbent, resilient pathways and surface beneath play structures.

To raise the extra money, the foundation is selling commemorative bricks for the playground's entrance. The bricks come in two sizes, one for $100 and one for $250.

The Dean and Margaret Lesher Foundation is also providing matching grants.

The bricks are in addition to a donor wall and other fundraising mechanisms.

Jacobsen said the current playground is not up to today's codes and is in need of repair and/or replacement.

"This is a great opportunity to do this right," she said.

The new playground will feature structures and other amenities for children of all ages and abilities.

There will be a play area for preschool age children as well as elementary school children.

In addition, there will be a free-play climbing hill, a traditional sand play area, an accessible "pull along" and a climb wall, among other things.

Structures and equipment will have wide ramps, making it easier for children with disabilities to use the playground.

Jacobsen said the new playground will be a regional resource, attracting families from all around the area.