Members of the Inclusive Play Project have been working to gather community support to help fund the project and finalize designs following approval by the School Board in October.

Meg Diggs, the organizer of the Inclusive Play Project, had a meeting with the community last week to assign people to specific committees.

“Our last meeting was about the community involvement that is necessary to move this forward,” Diggs said. “Specific committees include public relations, fundraising and research and grant writing.”

The meeting had a great turnout, according to Diggs. Some of those in attendance were School Board Vice Chair Dr. Judith Brooks-Buck and City Councilman Lue Ward — both represent Northern Shores.

Fundraising and grant writing will be integral to the project’s next steps, because they will be funding the project. Diggs estimates the cost of the playground to be around $1.5 million, with almost half the cost going towards the surfacing required.

“The surfacing is half the cost, but it is the most important part of an inclusive environment,” Diggs said. “If they can’t access the playground, they can’t play.”

Despite the large cost associated with the playground, Diggs believes that there are plenty of companies that would be willing to work as part of an in-kind donation.

Teachers from Northern Shores Elementary also attended the meeting, and Diggs was happy to have their input.

While the playground will have equipment and be used as a play area, Diggs and other members of the project want the playground to also be a place for learning.

“Another thing we focus on is bringing the classroom outside. With the surface, we can have designs and numbers,” Diggs said. “It can be used as an outdoor classroom, and we asked teachers to contribute what they would be interested to have on the playground.”

While the project is moving in a positive direction, Diggs is concerned about how quickly the project could get completed.

“The only real concern I have is that we are trying to make effort with the addition, and we are trying to make sure they happen at the same time,” Diggs said.

The School Board also approved a 12-classroom addition to help ease overcrowding at Northern Shores. Currently, the plan is to do the infrastructure for both projects at the same time as to not disturb one when the other is built.

Diggs hopes that the addition does not get delayed, because that would subsequently delay the playground project.

“The concern I have is that Northern Shores needs the addition yesterday, but we need to make sure that the addition comes in a timely manner, not only for the students at Northern Shores but also for the realization of the playground,” Diggs said.