With Labor Day here and the summer about over, the fundraising campaign for a new playground at Silver Beach County Park is nearing its home stretch.
Berrien County Parks Director Jill Adams tells us they’re almost to the 90% mark of the fundraising goal. Any contribution at this point is appreciated.
“Our overall goal, our max goal, is $1.25 million and we are currently at 89% of the way there,” Adams said. “So we’re very close. We’re working on a few things at the moment and hope to have some exciting news to share coming up.”
The current playground at the beach is more than 30 years old. The new playground will be more accessible.
Adams says the county secured an $800,000 grant to get most of the needed funds, and the community has come out in support of the effort to get it near its goal.
“We have over a hundred people or organizations that have donated in one way or another. We’ve applied for a few grants and we were blessed to receive some of those and we’ve had individual donors as well.”
Plans are already in the works to get construction started as Adams says the county makes the material purchases and lines up contractors. They’re expecting to break ground around October 1. Adams says if the fundraising goal isn’t reached by the time construction begins, then some aspects of the project could be slightly scaled back. However, as new donations come in, they’re adding more features to the project list.
Anyone can contribute through the Berrien Community Foundation. You can learn more about the playground project right here.
