A community build day scheduled last weekend allowed residents to help put the finishing touches on the long-awaited playground at the Cottonwood Kids Park.
The build day was Saturday, July 31. Participants helped install the surface material of the playground, bolt panels together, construct slides as well as a few other “odds and end projects” to help finish up the new park.
The Cottonwood Kids Park currently contains two ramadas, picnic tables, shaded areas, restroom facilities and the city’s largest open green space, which is often used for community events such as soccer games and the Fantastic Family 4th of July celebration among others.
The city is excited to be able to now add a playground to the park and for the community to help, Cottonwood Parks and Recreation Manager Jak Teel said. Teel said the city anticipates the park will benefit the community by offering another safe place for kids to play. The Cottonwood Kids Park is one of the largest, most well-known parks in the city and is located directly across from several apartment complexes and other homes.
“Adding the play equipment will help ensure the park is used by those of all ages and increases the quality of life for all community members,” Teel said. “This will be a marquee playground, not just for Cottonwood, but for the entire region.”
The need for a playground at the park was first identified in the Parks and Recreation Master Plan that was completed early in 2020. In 2019, the city won a Community Development Block Grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, aimed at enhancing low-income areas. The city allotted $330,143 of the funding to improve parks around the city, including the playground at the Kids Park.
During a Pick Your Park Campaign put on by the city in April, the community was able to vote for which playground design it wanted and in what color. And now, the community will be able to help put the playground it chose together.
“We have kept the community involved throughout the entire process of this project by allowing them to chose which park and which color they wanted. This now just allows us to put a bow on this project and give the community an opportunity to be a part of the park’s history,” Teel said.
Teel said the city wanted to involve the community in the build and selection process, rather than having staff do it all, for several reasons. The primary one being its desire to build better relationships between the local government and the community.
“I hope that by engaging the community and getting them involved we can help change the perception of how our community sees its government and build a relationship around the positive impacts we have,” Teel said. “If we were to just do this on the staff level, we would miss out on the engagement opportunities that are so vital to a vibrant community.”
“This is something that Cottonwood will be very proud of when it is completed and anyone looking to play a part in making Cottonwood that much better would benefit from helping out. Community spirit is something to be proud of and definitely something we are trying to cultivate with this build.”
For more information, contact Teel at 639-3200 ext 3208 orjteel@cottonwoodaz.gov.
