$100,000 playground, designed by kids, built in six hours in Fayetteville, set to open Sunday
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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- A brand new playground has made its way to north Fayetteville in a matter of hours Thursday afternoon.
The Fayetteville-Cumberland Parks and Recreation Department was able to erect the $100,000 project with coordination from the non-profit KaBOOM! and funding from the CarMax Foundation.
The collaboration aims to plant 68 new playspaces across the country by the year 2121 with a $4.4 million investment.
The parks and recreation department qualified for the grant and saw hundreds of volunteers show up. Starting at 8:30 a.m., volunteers from CarMax, Umoja Group, Fayetteville State University, and Fort Bragg joined KaBOOM! in getting this high-octane project completed by 2:30 p.m.
Amalia Criseiano, a project manager with the nationally known non-profit, says they arrived in Fayetteville on Tuesday for preparations.
"Everything you see being built here today was completely designed using the kids' ideas," Criseiano said.
Unfortunately, they could not fulfill some of the children's requests for a built-in swimming pool, but Criseiano says they made up for it in another areas.
Slides, a jungle gym, and painted sidewalks now fill up a once empty space.
Jalyn Bryant-Standiner, a member of the Umajo Group in Fayetteville, says she grew up in a neighborhood near the Smith Recreation Center and is happy to see things come full-circle.
"I actually played in the old playground when I was a kid; I'm 25 now, so it's nice to be a part of a situation like this," Bryant-Standiner said.
Parks and Recreation Supervisor Nelson Soriano says the location, right across from Fayetteville State University, is a central hub for many surrounding K-12 schools.
"Trying to give these kids the best opportunity they can. And if it's something as small as a playground that they can come and hang out and have an area for them, it's something we're here for," Soriano said.
Though the playground is completed, KaBOOM! officials tell ABC 11 the park won't open till Sunday, so they can let the concrete dry.
