PAWNEE ROCK — Volunteers were expected to arrive early Saturday morning to spread around the rubberized mulch and remove the caution tape from the latest project at the Pawnee Rock City Park.
Then, it’s play time.
With this weekend’s finishing touches, the new playground build completes Phase II of an ambitious, volunteer-led revitalization project in the Pawnee Rock community. As the build site was being cleared and prepped, the playground components were trucked in from Colorado at the end of July, for setup during the week. There’s a climbing tower, crawl spaces and slides, where before there was grass behind the Pawnee Rock City Hall building. The existing swing set and teeter-totters got a colorful spruce-up as well.
The two-phase building project began with construction of a pavilion that was completed in time for the community’s July 4th celebration. Also included was a refit of the park’s restroom building, that included a colorful mural depicting the history of the community, by Great Bend artist Anna Popp.
Pawnee Rock City Clerk Chris Mead and Assistant City Clerk Yvonne Link could watch it all happen from the front entrance to City Hall.
“There’s people in the park now,” Link mused Friday morning. “That hasn’t happened in a long time.”
Mead noted that there children as well as adults who were keeping track of the park’s progress. “They can’t wait for the playground to be done,” Mead said.
Link noted that some had jumped the gun a little during the week, and had to be cautioned that the playground wasn’t ready yet. “They are all just so excited.”
A big boost
The projects all take planning, and then funding. Members of the Revitalization Committee can look back to March, when a $50,000 contribution from the Barton County Commissioners help put the committee’s ideas into motion. That led to a matching contribution from an anonymous donor who turned out to be Brad and Jeanine Haynes from their fund administered by the Golden Belt Community Foundation, in memory of Pawnee Rock residents Keith and Marian Mull.
The community’s first annual Pawnee Rock Hard Rock Run earlier this summer netted some funds and residents’ donations are still coming in.
“We’ve still got our donation jar that the kids decorated sitting on the counter in our office,” Link said.
With Phase I and Phase II in the books, there are still some things to do, Link said. “It seems like the more you do, the more you think of to do.”
Ellinwood resident and former Barton County Commissioner Jon Prescott has been volunteering his time throughout the Pawnee Rock project. He noted that Phase III is in the planning. It includes an ADA-accessible playground piece at an estimated cost of $7,000 and a security camera system at about $3,000. Phase IV would be sidewalks around the park.
After that, the committee’s attention would turn to several abandoned properties in the community that need to be cleaned up or torn down. That phase would require some research into making contacts with possible property owners. “It’s a process,” Prescott said. “That could take some time.”
