Groups come together to build new playground in Lake Worth

Near the corner of Second Avenue North and North H Street, 9-year-old Aida was getting her hand painted by an AmeriCorps volunteer, just after she had run around the new shiny playground.

When asked if she had fun at the new park, she answered, “Yes!” with a big smile, nodding her head up and down. She was still out of breath from all the excitement.

The Highland Elementary student was one of nearly 100 people, including 50 volunteers, who showed up on Saturday morning for the building and then the opening of a new playground.

Volunteers from Lake Worth Community Redevelopment Agency, Bridges at Highland, AmeriCorps and others in the community helped put the playground together and assist with activities for the children, including face painting and scavenger hunts.

The playground, at 211 N. H St., is directly behind Tropical Ridge Fitness Park which opened in November 2012.

The playground as a whole cost about $37,000, with a $20,000 grant from KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit that communities pay for playgrounds and parks and $2,000 from another nonprofit, Neighborhood Works. The CRA and a few other donors helped with the rest, City Commissioner Andy Amoroso said.

“This park is here for you,” Amoroso said to the crowd as he cut the ribbon.

Jamie-Lee Brown, director of Bridges children’s services program at Highland Elementary School, said the main focus for this park and other projects like it in the area is to get parents and their kids to be outside and be healthy together.

“As parents get healthy, and the kids play, it gets them out of the house as much as possible,” she said

The playground includes shiny green climbing bars, two slides and a miniature rock climbing wall among other amenities. Brown said the fitness park being on the same lot encourages parents to become a guiding force at the playground.

“So many parents just drop their kids off,” she said. “And it’s not always the safest thing.”

Amoroso said the next plan for the park is to beautify the grounds and hopefully put in a butterfly garden.