Dr. Pepper Snapple Group (DPS) and national non-profit KaBOOM! have awarded the City of Kenmore a $20,000 Let’s Play City Construction Grant. Kenmore will use the grant to build a new playground with community involvement.
The grant is part of Let’s Play, a community partnership led by Dr. Pepper Snapple Group to get kids and families active nationwide. In 2011, as part of Let’s Play, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group made a $15 million, three-year commitment to KaBOOM!, the national non-profit saving play by ensuring there is a great place to play within walking distance of every child. Together through Let’s Play, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and KaBOOM! will build or fix up 2,000 playgrounds by the end of 2013, benefiting an estimated five million children across North America. Kenmore applied for 2012 Playful City USA recognition and also submitted a Let’s Play grant application to Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and KaBOOM!.
“We are thrilled to make Kenmore an even better place to live and play by using this grant to help fund the development of our first neighborhood park since we incorporated as a city,” said Kenmore Mayor David Baker. “The city is dedicated to providing opportunities for play and is proud to be recognized as a Playful City USA community four years in a row, only one of four cities in Washington state with this designation. We look forward to continuing our partnership with KaBOOM! and the Dr. Pepper Snapple Group toward making Kenmore an even more Playful City USA community.”
Kenmore was selected to receive a Let’s Play City Construction Grant among the 217 communities that earned Playful City USA status in 2013. Playful City USA is a national program advocating for local policies that increase play opportunities for children. KaBOOM! created Playful City USA in 2007 to help local governments address the play deficit among children and it is through mayors, city council members, parks and recreation departments, school districts and community leaders that the program succeeds in benefiting children.
The grant will be used to help construct a new playground at Northshore Summit Park in Kenmore. This park is the city’s first neighborhood park development project since incorporating in August, 1998. The park and the playground project is the culmination of hard work by the community and the surrounding neighborhood. Community meetings and workshops held over six years resulted in an approved master plan which includes a playground featuring a mix of traditional and natural looking play equipment.
Northshore Summit Park is a 3.6 acre undeveloped park in the Northeast corner of Kenmore. The completed park will contain a challenging playground for children ages 2-12 years of age, walking trails, open lawn and meadow areas for informal play, areas for picnicking and improved landscaping to encourage “backyard” habitat. The park project is currently out to bid with an anticipated completion date for winter of this year or spring of next year, depending on the weather.
