This has been a HUUUGE year for Blommel Park!
First, at the urging from and help of our neighborhood council, the City of Dayton included South Park in it’s all-City plan to install new playground equipment for 5-12 year olds in a dozen of the city’s public parks. For us, it replaced the rusty but much-used equipment that was 25 years old. All if all the City funded equipment is a $90K investment in our families.
Neighbors with younger than five-year-olds saw the need to add equipment for our burgeoning 2-5 year old kids. Neighbors, friends and families, kicked off a tremendous campaign to raise funds just for that. And what a job they did! Thanks to their tremendous support (consisting of 100+ unique contributors!), they raised $80K for additional equipment for the little ones.
In just 4 months, they’ve reach the funding goal for toddler-friendly equipment so families can enjoy a refreshed, renewed and safe Blommel Park playground. Thanks to this dynamic committee:
Maureen O’Rourke, Erin Geyer, Sarah Morris, Andrea Litten, Jenny Lenz, Amanda Gilbert, Jamie Bataglia Garcia, Aaron Gehring, Katrina Badger (team lead) — and so many others that helped out along the way!
Making a great park better
The order for new ADA swings is in (and paid for). They should be installed by late September. The City of Dayton will be also installing a few benches for us this summer. We chose not to pursue a rubber playground surface, so our equipment funding goals are now complete.
What’s next: HSPI’s Blommel Park Subcommittee will stay active to care for Blommel Park in partnership with the Parks Committee. We’ve set our sights on planting a handful more trees to create more shade as they grow, and possibly some flowers.
We’re also trying to get permission from the City for a water fountain, so fundraising is not done!
Huge thanks to our top contributors!
$8,000 – $10,000
- Charles D. Berry Foundation
- City of Dayton
- Plant Priority Services
$1,000 – $2,000
- Feed Creative Photo | Brieanna Moore
- Historic South Park, Inc.
- Premier Health
- Rumpke
Neighborhood Businesses
- Custom Frame Services
- Ghostlight Coffee
- Kroger
- Meijer
- Rubi Girls
South Park’s very own (“heavy hitters”) families, friends, and neighbors
- Deborah Hutchins
- Jenny Lenz
- Margie Harrell
- South Park kids!