Kiwanis push to complete fundraising goal for downtown Lynchburg playground
Kiwanis Club of Lynchburg
August 08, 2022
View story at The News & Advance….The Lynchburg Kiwanis Club is making one last push to fundraise for the rest of a playground that will be built at the Riverfront Park downtown.
The club has raised $130,000 of its $150,000 goal and hopes to fill the gap at its annual Shrimpfest, set for Aug. 20 at the park.
The club revealed its plans for the 11,000-square-foot playground in early 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic.
Since then, its efforts in general solicitations for businesses and individuals ceased for a number of months, Kiwanis member Ed McCann said.
“We’ve opened back up and held a couple drive-in events with our lobster sales, our shrimp sales, so we’ve picked up some money. We’ve also had some anonymous contributions,” McCann said.
Austin, Texas-based Kompan will design the park, which will be unique to Lynchburg.
The design for the playground is a “rope structure,” which allows children to climb as high and in any direction they choose. It also will include a dual zipline.
The proposed playground is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, allowing children with wheelchairs to easily traverse the base of the playground. A wheelchair-accessible merry-go-round also has been proposed.
McCann said Kiwanis is one of the few clubs in the city that has been in existence for more than 100 years and has made a number of contributions primarily to benefit children but also others in the community.
“This is kind of the capstone of those projects where the playground will be here for a long time and children of all physical capabilities will be able to enjoy it,” he said. “It’s pretty unique, I think.”
Tulane Patterson, a Kiwanis member, said the Shrimpfest will offer all-you-can-eat shrimp, two bands and cornhole.
“We’re just trying to let people do two things. One is to support the playground by coming out and having a good time, and to see where the playground is going to be. It’s going to be a really good thing for Lynchburg,” he said.
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