H a l e a k a l aT i m e sApril 2 - 15, 2003

Giggle Hill to Get Community Playground

By River Sussman

Making a point of saying that he really wants this project to succeed, so that more like it can follow, Mayor Alan Arakawa joined together with Maui Community Playground committee members to recognize Kula School 5th grader John Risko. The Mayor presented John with a certificate, a Kalakupua T-shirt and a family pass kindly donated by the Maui Ocean Center, all given to him in honor for naming our new playground!

John, along with hundreds of Maui school children, were asked to design their dream playground, and in addition, to choose a name for the playground. Out of several hundred names submitted, John's submission of "Magical Playground," it was then translated into Hawaiian, "Kahua Kalakupua". The building of the playground will take place October 14– 19, and will be located at the Fourth Marine Division Park in Ha'iku.

Kahua Kalakupua is a completely volunteer based playground project that began a year ago when a Ha'iku mom, Karen Cooper, began doing research into how she could help to remedy the lack of playgrounds in the Upcountry area.
Her research led her to Leathers and Associates, an architectural firm based in Ithaca, New York. Leathers and Associates have facilitated the building of over 1,600 community-built playgrounds worldwide.

Gaining recognition for their unique, handicapped-accessible play structures, they have been featured in the Smithsonian Magazine, as well as on the 60 Minutes television program.

Bob Leathers, master architect and founder of Leathers and Associates, is quick to point out that as exciting as the play structures that come out of these projects are, the community ties that are built through the process, changes every community for the better.

On Kaua'i, after the great success of their first project at Lydgate Park, the committee on that island came together three years later to develop an additional playground. That project launched a multimillion dollar county park renovation and facilitated partnerships that resulted in over 7 million dollars of federal funding to build a 17-mile bike path along the Kaua'i's North Coast. That project is in its early stages now.

Mayor Arakawa kindly purchased two pickets and donated these to John to choose his own names. In addition to applying for grants, they will be selling sponsorship of components (e.g.; swings, maze, etc.) of the playground to community individuals and small businesses, and approaching larger corporations for benefactor level support. For more information about this project call the Maui Community Playground at 573-6216, or log on to their website at www.mauiplayground.org.

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