Playground gets a makeover

Linda Averill, director of the Shoreline Children’s Center, says the center’s playground used to be called “the Great Wasteland.”

But volunteers and donors have helped transform the area into an unusual space that offers much more than your typical playground.

There have been 10 work parties and a Community Build Day. Volunteers at the United Way of King County Day of Caring volunteer event Sept. 21 also turned out to help. Parents, staff and corporations have given money to the project.

All this has resulted in a new playground with about $75, 000 in new equipment including slides, climbers, bridges and a 12-foot-tall SpaceNet.

Six small interactive play areas have been created: the Beach Garden with boat and dock; the Northwest Canoe Garden with canoes and traditional long house; the Asian Pavilion and Zen Garden with granite bridge and stone river; the Dinosaur Garden with whimsical artwork and giant boulder; the Agricultural Garden with five raised growing beds and the Sound Garden with weather-proof instruments.

At the Day of Caring Sept. 21, two new gardens were finished: a Nature Viewing Kiosk that will let students view the waterfowl and native birds that frequent Ronald Bog with a recently purchased portable telescope; and Marilyn’s Woodland Fantasy Garden featuring native planting, arbors and foot paths for children to explore.

The 100 volunteers from Washington Mutual and Microsoft who participated finished the installation of a new hillside slide and began work on a gateway that will prominently identify the center’s park from Meridian Avenue.