A community-based effort to replace an ancient playground at Red Cedar Elementary School was completed Tuesday as the children of the school greeted their new equipment.
"It was tremendous," school principal Mindy Emerson said, "from the vision to the completion of the project."
A ribbon-cutting ceremony held at Red Cedar, 1110 Narcissus Drive, on Tuesday morning gave the students a sense of accomplishment and a chance to enjoy a new jungle gym that was installed over the weekend, Emerson said.
Children whose parents had installed the equipment on Friday and Saturday cut a piece of yellow caution tape to signal the official opening.
About 60 additional students were enrolled in Red Cedar this fall after being displaced from Spartan Village Elementary School, 1460 Middlevale Road. Spartan Village Elementary closed its doors last spring because of budget cuts.
Red Cedar now has students from more than 50 countries.
More than 400 man-hours were needed to install the equipment during two days this weekend, as volunteers dug nearly 30 5-foot holes for the poles supporting the playground, said volunteer parent Annie Lewis.
Many of the volunteers were MSU students with children in Red Cedar. Other volunteers included a Christian youth group serving the community by replacing the toys, she said.
Cement for footings was donated by The Home Depot and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts which supported the project when Lewis camped out there for two weeks prior to the store's opening in August.
"We have had a playground," Emerson said.
"Quite a bit of old equipment that was no longer up to code was removed, and brand-new equipment was put in."
A $5,000 matching grant and fund-raising by parent organizations and students paid for $15,000 of equipment. Built by volunteers, the playground is estimated to cost upward of $50,000, Lewis said.
"We really don't have a budget for this type of thing," Emerson said. "We've had real great support from the community."
Among several fund-raising initiatives, parents and students tried to raise a million pennies and a mile of dollars the day of the Iowa football game on Sept. 27, incorporating education into the effort.
