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On the heels of its success in raising money to reassemble Lansing's historic 1791 log cabin, the Lansing Community Council is taking on a more ambitious project to replace the playground in Myers Park.  While the Community Council aims to raise $130,000 for the project, that is not its only goal.  Council members hope to involve the whole community in the design and building of its playground, which it is calling MP3 (Myers Park Playground Project).  To get things started the group is hosting a community celebration.

"I think it's a fun way to bring people together," says Charmagne Rumgay, an MP3 committee member and Town employee .  "The children really benefit in the end.  They have a fun place to play.  They need a place to play to be able to grow, and this is a great opportunity to bring that together."

The celebration will present the project in a fun way calculated to bring the community together.  A presentation will show the current version of the design and give an idea of how community builds work.  Crossroads the Clown and the Lansing High School Varsity Cheerleaders will entertain, and refreshments will be served.  Opportunities to volunteer and contribute to the project will also be introduced.

The project was motivated by the existing, but steadily deteriorating Myers Park playground.  That playground has been a popular feature of the park for many years, but as components have worn out and become unsafe they have been removed.  MP3 will entirely replace the current playground.  Leathers & Associates has been chosen to design and lead a community effort to raise money and volunteers to build the playground.  The local playground design firm specializes in making playground building into community projects. 

"The nice thing about this is that you have a sense of ownership," says Lansing Community Council President Ed LaVigne.  "That's the whole thing about community, that you are not just passing through.  You're making a contribution and you take ownership in it.  That's one of the key ingredients that is missing in a lot of towns nowadays."


Architect Marc Leathers says that over 90% of the playground will be unique, with only swings and slides coming from pre-manufactured parts.  Lansing elementary and middle school children have been submitting drawings of their ideas of the perfect playground.  The Playground Committee will take ideas from these drawings, and plans to display them at next week's celebration and during the build itself.  The group is targeting the build for June 9 - 13, which gives them just over four months to organize and design the project, raise funds, and volunteers.  LaVigne is optimistic that they will meet this goal.

"In three weeks time we have probably done two months worth of work," he says.  "This committee is an aggressive, energetic team.  We've hit the floor running with this.  This is a perfect time, a perfect marriage between the Lansing Community Council and this project.  This is the square peg in the square hole."

Leathers & Associates' Kyle Cundy says the community build concept is based on Amish barn raisings, which gets a whole community together to raise a barn in one day.  The firm built its first playground in 1971 at St. John's Elementary School in Ithaca, pioneering the 'community build' concept.  That concept recruits community members to be involved in every aspect of creating a playground, from donations to design input to wielding hammers.  Since that time they have helped about 2,000 communities in the United States and other countries realize unique and creative playgrounds.  Cundy says she is especially excited abut the Lansing project.

"It's the opportunity to work in my own community," she says.  "We rarely work locally, so it's special to us to have our kids involved, and our friends and family and people within our own community."

Residents can be involved in many ways.  Sponsorships are solicited at four basic levels, and all donations, large or small, are accepted.  A picket fence is an integral part of the playground design, with individual pickets displaying the names of people who donate $35 for each one.  A large list of potential playground components are listed on the MP3 Web site and brochure to encourage individuals or businesses to purchase one or more.  Elements include a pirate ship, lighthouse, maze, wavy ladder, various slides and swings, a climbing wall, fire pole, and music area, among others.  Sponsors  and people who donate components will be acknowledged on a plaque displayed in the finished playground. 

Leathers says he loves the community aspect of the project and most looks forward to the build in June.

"The build is an incredible time," he says.  "When you get 100 to 200 people there over a five day period what can be accomplished is absolutely astounding.  You have so much energy and all the stories of people working together.  I never get tired of that."

The group plans many events to involve Lansing residents and raise money for the project.  A 'Party for the Park' is set to be held at the John Joseph Inn in April, and pancake breakfasts, dinners, chicken barbecues, and other events are being planned.  Next week's Community Celebration will officially kick off the project at the Lansing Middle School gymnasium next Thursday (2/11) at 6pm.

Organizers hope the community will rally around MP3 to make the playground a true reflection of Lansing.

"Before we're done this project will probably impact a few thousand people," Leathers says.  "That's pretty incredible.  And they're valued.  It's not just input -- they can really help make this happen.  We can't do it without the community."

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