Community Unites to Build Structure

By Anton Kozikowski

"We were facing an uphill obstacle course, literally," said Judith Cushner, director at the Laurel Hill Nursery School. "Our playground had reached its end stage. Every time we turned around something needed to be welded or fixed.

"Our last renovation was 30 years ago. We had the odds against us, with an extremely challenging site, not to mention cost constraints, all the new safety guidelines and the increasing demand for diversity," she said.

It took six years, but the first small step was taken when Cushner established an independent fundraising campaign led by her comrade Diane Larabbee. The initial $5,000 seed money grew into $40,000. Then, a general letter of intent was issued to alumni and neighborhood organizations to solicit donations.

With gaining momentum, the search began for a designer willing to take on a challenge. Enter architect/alum Lisa Gelfand, who imagined what she calls "a multi-sensory, 3-D landscape."

"It was an extremely difficult space," she said of the property, which drops some 25 feet from its uppermost point. "Most playgrounds are flat and paved."

Gelfand created a plan that is ADA compliant with several different playing fields.

"We tried to be responsive to the development of three- to five-year-old kids and combine ways to get them to use all parts of their bodies. We tried to incorporate the visual, sound and touch sensations and strive for a multi-sensory experience. Lisa's plans looked fantastic, especially considering that one of the proposed sketches was basically a large wheel chair ramp," Cushner said.

The next, and even more difficult task was to enlist an engineer willing and brave enough to bring Gelfand's design to life. More than a dozen different contractors picked up the drawings before someone submitted an affordable bid.

"I've never combined so many different curves, slopes and tilts in one project," says contractor/engineer Brent Harris. According to Harris, the brilliant feature in the design was the suspended bridge that tied the different levels together.

"The bridge gives the area more circulation and provides more room for the kids to run around."

Harris worked with the yard renovation committee to select the wood, sand, rubber, metal and textured surfaces that give the playground a distinctively natural feel.

The playground features a wide sand pit, a colorful climbing dome, hundreds of square feet of new storage sheds, suspended bridge, ceramic kiln, an old-fashioned water pump that works, mud pit, an authentic fishing boat to play on and a slide ride that takes you into the trees.

"It never could have happened without the dedication of Capital Campaign Committee co-chairs Diane Larabbee and Camilla Smith," Cushner said. "Not to mention over 200 donors, including the Gold Family Fund through the Quality Child Care Initiative, the Morris Stulsaft Foundation, the Peter and Miriam Haas Fund and, of course, our dedicated Yard Renovation Committee members."

The public is invited to the LHNS dedication ceremony that takes place at 401 Euclid Ave. on Saturday, April 28, noon to 2 p.m.