New Playground for Hyde Park
Exciting news for the Hyde Park Community! Hyde Park residents must go to Oakley or Mt. Lookout (Ault Park) to find a large play yard, but that will hopefully change soon thanks to Hyde Park School. To better serve both the students and surrounding neighborhood community, the Hyde Park School Community Play Yard (HPSCPY) committee has developed a plan that goes well beyond simply replacing the existing structure and has instead created an engaging, dynamic, aesthetically pleasing space for our entire community to enjoy. They are currently fundraising to make it possible for construction to begin by the end of the current school year. The play yard will be open to the public outside of the school day. For more information and pictures see the article and links below.
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer and Hyde Park School Community Play Yard
Hyde Park School to Welcome Neighborhood at New Place
A committee of concerned people think the children of Hyde Park School ”“ and the surrounding neighborhood ”“ deserve more than a largely unshaded playground with aging equipment on cracked asphalt.
So, parents, teachers and community members in the group are working to raise $310,000 by the end of December to buy modern play equipment, plant shade trees, replace the asphalt in front of the school with grass and resurface one multipurpose playing field.
The committee wants to begin construction of the playground in June at Hyde Park School, a Cincinnati Public School District neighborhood school at 3401 Edwards Road. It’s for elementary school students who live in Hyde Park, Oakley and Evanston.
The committee even plans to build two outdoor classrooms at the playground to be called the “Hyde Park School Community Play Yard” set to open in the summer of 2018.
Fundraising efforts recently got a big boost when the Cincinnati Public Schools pledged $48,500 to the playground.
“Our project originally started as a replacement of the aging playset alone, but after surveying students, parents and neighborhood community members, it became clear that a larger scale project was needed,” said committee member Ed Paff of Hyde Park, whose son is in the first grade at Hyde Park School and who plans to enroll his daughter in kindergarten there next school year.
“One of the most requested features was additional green space and a more park-like setting to not only complement the historic school building and neighborhood but to provide a safe and engaging play area for children.”
Another committee member, Katherine Loveland of Hyde Park, said the group “has developed a (playground) plan that goes well beyond simply replacing the existing structure, to create an engaging, dynamic, aesthetically pleasing space for our entire community to enjoy.”
Loveland, whose 5-year-old daughter started kindergarten at Hyde Park School this school year, said donations are needed and are tax-deductible.
“This is a big project which represents an investment in our children and our community as a whole,” Loveland said.
“In order to reach our goals, Hyde Park School will be holding several fundraisers over the course of the school year, including a Harvest Fest and Pumpkin Chuck in the existing play yard on Nov. 4 and an event at the MadTree Brewing Co. on the evening of Nov. 14.”
The Hyde Park School Foundation is involved in the playground project.
Loveland said children in the neighborhood who don’t attend Hyde Park School will be allowed to use the new playground, too.
“The playground will be open to the public outside of regular school hours,” Loveland said.
There are currently no other playgrounds within walking distance of the Hyde Park Square, so this new play yard will provide a significant benefit to families in the neighborhood.
“In addition, our plan is to create a space that is visually appealing and provides a green space in the center of our neighborhood for everyone to enjoy,” Loveland said.
For more information or to donate, visit www.HPSCPY.org.
You can also donate by a check payable to the HPS Foundation (put “playground” in the memo) and mailed to the HPS Foundation ”“ HYSCPY, 3401 Edwards Road, Cincinnati, OH 45208.