Amid bulldozers, tilled grass and heaps of dirt, a small red tower resembling the clock tower in downtown Hopkinsville peeks out of North Drive Recreation Center from the road.

Soon, the dirt will disappear and the bulldozers will no longer roam the area.

Two soccer fields, two multipurpose fields, a pavilion, a parking lot and possibly a disc golf course will join the boat, the rock-climbing wall and the clock tower in the center.

But Monday, community members gathered to celebrate the official opening of the play area during a ribbon cutting. Elected officials, members of the 2007-08 Hopkinsville Leadership class,  children and Hopkinsville residents gathered at the park to revel in the project.

Nearly 1,500 volunteers worked more than 5,800 hours to complete the playground in five days. A stone plaque emblazoned with “Project Playground” lists several local business and individual donors.

Faye Hendricks, one of the volunteers who helped build the playground, watched her 5-year-old son and her 6-year-old daughter tumble down the slides Monday as she admired the finished project.

Hendricks, a teacher at University Heights Academy, brought her students to help on the playground three of the five days of construction.

“I wanted to get my students involved,” she said. “I thought this was a one-of-a-kind opportunity for them. Maybe they’ll bring their kids here one day.”

The playground will be open from 8 a.m. until dusk.

Source:

KY New Era, July 29, 2008

By Julia Hunter, New Era Staff Writer