We Believe In The Power of Play, reads the sign that welcomes you to the playground at The New City School on Long Beach Blvd. and 16th Street. Construction on the playground was begun and completed entirely on Monday, thanks to the designs of local kids and several hundred volunteers.
The new space was formerly a junkyard.
“The kids came up with a bunch of designs, and from there KaBoom and the volunteers sort of envisioned it, planned it and put it together,” said Ted Hamory, Executive Director of The New City School. It all culminated today with 300 volunteers.”
“We are so excited to have this new playground,” said Noah, a young student at The New City School, during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “Thank you to the city and the government.”
The construction was a joint effort brought about by many contributors. KaBoom – a national organization that travels from city to city setting up one-day playground constructions – announced that they were accepting applications for new recipients. Hamory said that the school applied, was approved, and KaBoom did the rest. They brought in California First Lady Maria Shriver and the Women’s Conference, as well as gas company BP for complete financial support.
“I’m happy to leave a little piece of a legacy to these kids,” said Ann Hand, BP Head of Global Marketing. “Really, it’s BP that thanks KaBoom and The New City School, because you’ve made us feel good and remind us what its like to be young again.”
There was much appreciation for Shriver, who fulfilled a year-old promise to do something to help Long Beach youth. Shriver was in attendance for construction of the playground, but both she and Governor Schwarzenegger cancelled their appearance at the ribbon-cutting ceremony due to California’s wildfire emergency.
The playground offers green space to an area that has little – a place for kids to enjoy, which sadly, are hard to come by downtown. The new playground features a large structure for climbing, a wooden ship – adorned with a USS New City School flag – immersed in a sea of blue rubber bits – and an open grass clearing featuring a stage that will be used for visual and performing arts. A 30-foot-tall mural stands adjacent to the playground, on one wall of the school building, depicting children holding hands with animals around a globe.