Swampscott playground plans taking shape

SWAMPSCOTT – After years of grassroots fundraising efforts, plans are being finalized for the installation of a new playground in lower Jackson Park near the former Machon Elementary School.”It has been a long haul,” said Kevin Donaher, one of the founders of the Jackson Park Playground Committee. “But we are very optimistic this will happen this summer. We hope the project will be complete by mid-August. The portable classroom (from the Machon School) and the old basketball court are gone and the whole site has been opened up.”Donaher said the group has raised approximately $75,000 for the project, which he expects would cost $150,000, including in-kind services when all is said and done.”The goal right now is to get this project completed,” he said. “Right now we are hoping area businesses will step up and pitch in with the actual site preparation, playground construction and landscaping.”Aggregate Industries has agreed to supply the surface materials for the playground and Donaher said the committee is looking for volunteers to help truck materials from Aggregate to the site.Donaher said the committee is also in need of carpenters to make forms for the walkways and landscapers who are willing to donate plantings.Donaher said the group has raised more than $3,000 from metal recycling events coordinated with Scrap-It, Inc. of Everett and it has another metal recycling day scheduled for June 26 from 8 a.m. until noon at the DPW Yard on Paradise Road. The company donates 75 percent of the value of scrap metal dropped off at the recycling events to the host organization. Donaher said residents of all North Shore communities are welcome to drop off metal for recycling”This is an opportunity to get rid of your unwanted metal, free,” he said. “Money from the recycling will help support the building of a green playground for children and the creation of passive recreational space for the entire community.”In addition to recycling, the committee plans on having other fundraisers this summer including a movie night, which proved to be a very popular event last summer.Anyone who would like to make a tax deductible contribution to the playground project should send their donation to the Swampscott Rotary Club Charitable Trust/ JP Project, P. O. Box 36, Swampscott 01907. Anyone who would like to volunteer or maker an in-kind donation should contact Donaher at 617-512-3714.