PLAYGROUND Tiny tots get new place to play in Youngstown

Volunteerism spawned the toddler play space.
By MATT BIXENSTINE
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- By early this afternoon, young children will grace a South Side site, and the transformation of an overgrown plot to a playground will be complete.
Easter Seals of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana Counties was to mark the grand opening of its Head Start Infants & amp; Toddlers Playspace, 299 Edwards St., with a ribbon-cutting at 1 p.m. today.
"This is a big thing for us," said Jodi Harmon, Easter Seals Development coordinator. "It's a playground specifically designed for early childhood intervention and development."
Therapeutic play
The colorful play space, intended for children ages 6 months to 3 years, features slides, a tunnel and a bike path -- all of which are handicap-accessible, said William Addington, Easter Seals Chief Development Officer.
Because Easter Seals provides services primarily for people with disabilities, the play space will act as a "therapeutic facility" for its users, said Janet Walston, Easter Seals manager of pediatric services.
"It's unique from other playgrounds because we try to meet the needs of the children we serve," she said.
Harmon said community volunteers were instrumental in funding and constructing the $62,000 project.
"It's through the community that this is possible," she said. "We're so fortunate to have that support."
Lead role
Particularly, Leadership Mahoning County Class of 2002, which adopted the undertaking as a class project, played a lead role.
The class, a group of 40 community leaders, raised $25,000 for the project through fund-raising techniques such as mail campaigns and contacting the local business community.
"The class tried to raise significant funds to assist the creation of the playground," said Susan Moorer, Leadership Mahoning County executive director. "They were very successful."
Robert Lackey, class project coordinator, said a playground at E.J. Blott Elementary School in Liberty helped inspire the class's decision to participate with Easter Seals.
"My wife is a principal in the school system there, and they put in a playground several years earlier," he said. "The class ended up choosing this project out of four [possibilities]."
For Lackey, this was his second such project. The insurance agent also participated in constructing Easter Seal's original playground in 1977 with the Youngstown Rotary Club.
Eight other local organizations and businesses also contributed to the funding, and Youth Build in Mahoning and Trumbull counties helped with the construction process, supervised by Myers Design in Akron.
Construction took place from April 11 to May 10, with most of the project completed using paid and volunteer labor during two weekends, Harmon said.
mbixenstine@vindy.com