MARTINSON Playground campaign gets boost Committee looks to ramp up fundraising efforts

The Martinson Playground Committee is looking to ramp up fundraising for a new playground following Town Meeting approval of Community Preservation Act money to fund a portion of the project.

The budget for the project is $250,000 and would replace the current structures at the elementary school, which aren’t compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act and are in poor condition, said Marcy Strazer-Concannon, head of the Martinson Playground Committee.

For the 2015-2016 school year, the swings weren’t attached to the structure, she said, adding a group of parents advocated for the chains to be reattached so students could use the swings again.

“It was through that effort that myself and a few other parents came to realize the MES playground needed a lot of work to meet the needs of the largest school in the district,” Strazer-Concannon said.

Town Meeting voters approved $130,000 of CPC money at Town Meeting last week, and the Marshfield Department of Public Works pledged $35,000 from the money it receives from the CPC annually to work on playgrounds and fields.

The Molly Fitzgerald Memorial Fund also recently donated $2,500 to the cause, which would fund the Supernova Spinner, a ring that spins and multiple children can play on at once.

“The Supernova is incredibly dynamic,” Strazer-Concannon said. “It’s a simple design but there’s an incredible array of options of how it can be used.”

Strazer-Concannon said the committee is hoping to raise about $20,000 by the end of the month, so they can start ordering equipment to be installed at the end of August.

The committee has already raised about $11,500 through donations and selling bricks at MESPlayground.com. There are $100, $250 and $500 brick options, as well as other opportunities to donate.

The new structure was designed to be specifically attractive and fun for students with different kinds of special needs, including wood chip surface that would be easily traversable in a wheelchair, fun options for play at the ground level as well as the upper level of the play structure, and some solo-play options for students who prefer independent play.

The playground will feature hammocks, single person spinners, rope climbing structures, a grassy area, swings, slides and more.

The company the committee is working with, Kompan, takes particular care to make play structures accessible and fun for special needs students, which is particularly important at Martinson, Strazer-Concannon said.

Martinson not only has the most students of any of the elementary schools in Marshfield, but it also is near different multi-family housing developments and the high school, where sporting events for all ages are held.

It was also designed to have good sightlines for parents who might be at the high school sports bleachers, who have younger children who want to play on the playground during sporting events.

“There are so many layers that make Martinson playground a community playground,” Strazer-Concanncon said.

—Follow Kaila Braley on Twitter @MarinerKaila.