Orcas Island Teams Up to Create New Playground
Posted July 27, 2021 at 4:30 am by Hayley Day
The new playground at Eastsound Village Green on Orcas. San Juan County Parks and Fair, Contributed.
From San Juan County Parks and Fair
A new playground will be dedicated to residents and visiting children noon Saturday, Aug. 14 at the Village Green on Orcas Island.
The Playground-on-the-Green is a product of Orcas Island’s imagination, energy and funding, and was constructed by Orcas artists Chuck Greening and Zackarya Leck.
The playground design, by Greenworks of Portland, Oregon, mimics what kids might find in the woods or on the beach — rocks to climb, logs to scramble, sand to mold — and features a sculptural slide, designed and constructed by Zackarya Leck. The nature-based design encourages kids to build confidence in assessing risk and supports their coordination, orientation, and social skills.
The playground committee — Dan Burke, Chuck Greening, Ken Katz, Zackarya Leck, David Kau, Mark Mayer, Pete Moe, and Margaret Payne — thanks the following:
- San Juan County for a lodging tax grant to get the project going.
- San Juan County Parks for supporting the committee through three years of planning and construction.
- Moran State Park and the Port of Orcas for donating logs.
- Camp Orkila for rocks.
- West Sound Lumber for milling, treating and storing logs.
- Joe Cohen and Martha Farish for funding the slide.
- The Orcas Island Community Foundation for support through “Give Orcas” and for donating landscape trees to celebrate its 25th Anniversary.
- Island Market for donating benches.
- A Ginny-Lu Wood Legacy Grant for the water fountain (and Eastsound Water for its installation).
- An anonymous donor for the large, flat rock that anchors the play area. The anonymous donor wishes to celebrate Orcas Island volunteerism — the many awesome citizens and businesses who donated time, talent and funding for this exceptional playground.
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Categories: Community, Recreation
One comment:
One comment...
Our island community owes an enormous…virtually un-measurable..debt of gratitude to Chuck and his son, Axle, who worked tirelessly, by and large by themselves.
While the design by Greenworks may have set the tone, the actual configuration of the elements which comprise the playground and the background fencing is a consequence of the artistic talent of Chuck Greening.
And all the while this work was going on, Zack Leck worked the iron in his studio which resulted in the marvelous slide…All in all, truly extraordinary, and enthusiastically embraced by our children.
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