Playground Update

Playground Update

SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 – PLEASE SEE UPDATE AT THE END OF THIS POST

Hills, a rock scramble, a climbing wall, and a fort! This and more are coming to a playground near you! Children and families at Wildwood Elementary can look forward to the adventure of exploring a new natural playground at our school.

Natural Playgrounds Company of New Hampshire has been selected to install the topography and “foundational” elements of the design they created for Wildwood. In addition to the features above, the playground will include a sand play area, a slide built into a hill, and an amphitheater with rock seating. A separate Early Childhood area is also being built, with smaller-scale features and a playhouse enclosed by a split rail fence.
Funding for the first phase of playground construction has been made possible by residents of the school district, community members through the MAEF Gala “Fund a Need” program, the PTO, and a generous grant from the Hanifl Foundation.
The Mahtomedi Area Green Initiative (MAGI) has long supported this vision for a unique outdoor play and learning space for Wildwood. To help defray additional costs, MAGI is helping organize the purchase and planting of trees for the new playground. The design calls for more than 50 trees and shrubs to provide essential shade and beauty for the children, and to create habitat and learning opportunities.
We invite you to donate a tree and join in at a community tree planting day when construction is complete.
Create a living legacy for the future by donating a tree or shrub today!

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September, 2013 UPDATE on Wildwood School Natural Playground

Dear Natural Playground Supporters and Tree Donors:

Thank you for your generous support and continued interest in the Wildwood School Natural Playground. It is an exciting project that will provide a wonderful play environment for our community’s children and families. 

While many of us kids (and kids at heart) are eager for the playground to be installed, we are going to have to be a bit patient. Wildwood School principal, Mark Hamre, recently notified us that fulfilling state requirements for a project of this scope will result in construction of the playground likely beginning after school is out in spring of 2014.  

That doesn’t mean we sit idle. MAGI is continuing to raise funds and plan for planting trees and shrubs on the playground soon after it is in place.

The Mahtomedi School District remains committed to this exciting project. We will keep you informed as it evolves. 

To those who have already made a tree or shrub donation, thank you so much!  

Mahtomedi Area Green Initiative, in cooperation with MAEF