Why I Oughta...

Last week, I posted a photo showing the mulch being dropped off at the new playground in the Randall Park neighborhood of Downers Grove.  Recently, while we were at the school working on riding bikes in the big parking lot, we found the fence down in a big section (it was still up on part of it), so we naturally went in. The kids had a lot of fun.  I only had the two youngest savages with me, but it seems scaled perfectly for all three kids - some areas for the little ones and with the climbing apparatus, I'm sure kids like The Babe will find themselves at home. All in all, a nice addition to Whittier Elementary School.  Kudos to the Moms and Dads behind the Whittier PTO for all their work and dedication to raising the money needed .

In June and July I posted about the new playground going into Whittier Elementary School in the Randall Park neighborhood in Downers Grove.  It is right up the street from our new place.  You'll recall, that this was built with private donations brought together by the Whittier PTA - which is really great!  And...you might remember that I pointed out the WRONG playground . I've been watching the progress the past few weeks and noticed that the playground closest to Grand Avenue ( the one I first posted about ) is complete and has the pea gravel and mulch laid down to complement the new, refreshed concrete curb that they installed .   Earlier this week, I was out in the early morning hours and noticed that a large truck had arrived at the *other* new playground as was busy dumping down new, steaming hot mulch to get installed.  From the looks of the situation, this appears to be the final step required before they can re-open the new playground to families and neighbors.

Whoops!  A week ago, I posted about the new playground going into Whittier Elementary School in the Randall Park neighborhood in Downers Grove and talked about how the PTA worked to raise money to install new equipment.  That part...was all true.  But the rest?  #FakeNews!   I posted a photo of the wrong playground.  Sorry.  Still getting my bearings. The one I posted showed a new concrete curb going in, but oddly, all of the equipment was staying put.  And the shape wasn't quite the right shape as the one in the rendering . Earlier this week, I was walking by the school and noticed that there is A SECOND playground!  See the red arrow.  *That's* the one that is getting overhauled.  Whoops. Here's a zoomed-in look at the progress they've made.  Much of the equipment has been installed and while the fencing is still up, it looks like they're just awaiting the play surface. The playground in the foreground is likely just getting a new concrete curb, bu

If you walk by (or drive by) the playground outside of Whittier Elementary School on Grand Avenue, you'll see a bit of a construction site taking place on the playground area.  When I snapped this photo, there were concrete forms set up and a new perimeter curb was being poured and set.  They had also dug up quite a bit of earth in what looks like a perfectly-timed summer project for the school. I poked around a bit and it turns out that this is a major project that has taken five years to ideate and fund and now they're moving on to the construction phase.   From the Downers Grove District 58 site : Over the years, Whittier’s playground has received regular safety maintenance and minor changes, such as the removal of the teeter-totters. However, the playground itself is decades old and was built when Whittier’s enrollment was half its current size.  This discovery prompted the moms and Whittier PTA to launch a four-year planning and fundraising effort to upgrade Whitt