The Friends and Neighbors of Ballston Spa group is almost halfway to reaching its $180,000 fundraising goal to build an all-inclusive playground at Kelley Park.
To date, the Friends and Neighbors of Ballston Spa, or FANS, has raised more than $85,000.
On Saturday, March 29, people at the Malta Avenue Intermediate School were hopping with folk music by Daniel Berggren, who performed a benefit concert to raise money for the playground.
I believe in doing music for a good cause, Berggren said.
He said when he heard about the playground effort, he offered to hold a benefit concert.
Berggren performs folk music of the Adirondacks at coffeehouses, libraries and museums across the state, and at festivals nationwide.
`This project is all about talents,` said Shannon Hansen, who organized the fundraiser.
Hansen said the community has pulled together to work on the project.
`Everyone is pitching in,` she explained.
From sailors to builders, several people have already volunteered to help construct the playground, which will provide equipment suitable for children 2 to 12 years old.
More than 250 uniformed sailors will march to Kelley Park Saturday, May 24, and help the volunteers put together the playground equipment.
In honor of the sailors’ efforts, the park will feature a submarine tube where children can play.
Volunteer construction on the park is set to begin Friday, May 23, and end Saturday, June 1.
Several fundraisers are scheduled before construction begins, including an adult silent auction and refreshment sales during intermission of the high school play Friday, April 4, and Saturday, April 5.
Hansen said after several large contributions to the park fund, the group is looking for a grassroots push to raise the rest of the money needed.
She said they are hoping to raise the remaining $95,000 through community donations, by sponsoring children’s handprints for the playground, as well as pickets for the fence surrounding the playground.
FANS is selling pickets that can be stamped with a name for $60 a piece (or $50 for two or more) to be built into the playground. The last day to purchase a picket is Tuesday, April 15.
They will also be selling canvas for children’s handprints for $30 a piece. Parents can purchase a canvas during FANS’ events, and have their child put a handprint on the canvas with their name to be built into the park.
Construction on the park will begin regardless of whether the group’s fundraising goal has been met.
`We really are a varied, varied group,` said Dianne Burke, fundraising coordinator for FANS of the volunteers who have helped in pursuing the playground.
While several community members have come together to support the project through volunteering countless hours, businesses and organizations have shown their support by sponsoring pieces of the playground.
O’Brien’s Pharmacy, where a thermometer of fundraising progress is hanging in the window of the storefront on the corner of Milton Avenue, donated $2,000 toward a treehouse for the playground.
The Eagle Matt Lee and Union Fire Company each donated $1,000 to place two fire truck play sets in playground.
Other features of the playground include a sensory walkway and therapeutic swings, which are handicap accessible.
FANS has also incorporated some of the village’s history into the playground, like a trolley play toy to represent the trolley, which ran from Schenectady to the village to Saratoga Springs until December 1941.
Children and community members designed the playground during a workshop Thursday, Nov. 29, with the help of Leathers and Associates, a custom design playground company out of Ithaca. The park effort began more than three years ago after a group of residents looked at ways to improve recreational facilities in the village.
Kelley Park, which is adjacent to the municipal pool, and houses a pavilion, small play set, skate park and nature trail, is located on Ralph Street in the village.
`It will be a great use of the space,` said Andy Manion who is organizing volunteer efforts for the playground.“