It’s designed for little kids to have safe fun and adventure in a playground, but the funny thing is the extent of the excitement and fantasy-fun the big kids have been having up at the marsupial park at Endeavour Dr in Tamworth over the past week.
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The concept drawings for the Adventure Playground were first unveiled in early 2011 – an idea inspired way back in 2009 by local Charles Impey, at that stage a young dad of two young kids.
It was to include a goanna balance beam, possum bars, flying fox, wombat tunnel, kangaroo slide, tree house, 3D maze and special features for children with disabilities, like slippery slides, texture walls and a music area.
It was conceived as having a separate area with activities tailored to toddlers and younger children incorporating an animal maze, emu slide, sandpit, bouncy bridge and cubby houses.
A specialist playground designer from New York worked with Tamworth children from 10 local primary schools to come up with ideas for their ideal playground.
It was fittingly to been designed with a native animal theme, because that’s where it is – the Tamworth Marsupial Park.
There are two distinct age-appropriate areas – a toddler area and an older children’s area for those up to 12 years old.
The components have be designed with integrated fine-motor skill play, as well as gross-motor skill play and imaginative play firmly in mind. There have been about 14 of these playgrounds designed around Australia since 1989.
Fundraising events have raised the bulk and they’ve sold bricks and pavers as part of that.
While it was initially planned to be completed much earlier, it is just about here now and last week saw the
seven-day build of it, with plenty of hands and muscle from businesses, service clubs and individuals.
To its credit, and at the expense of other budgetary items which meant some other civic activities suffered, Tamworth Regional Council has also chipped in, to the tune of about $315,000, via a dollar-for-dollar grant up to an amount of $50,000 – about the same from its annual donations program – and then chipped in again to underwrite the cost on the rubber surfacing needed.
It is not just for the 8000-odd children we have in our city, it becomes an attraction for visitors from surrounding areas. It has been a marathon and massive effort. It is another salutary lesson in people’s drive, determination, energy and community connection and support.
Great stuff from big people for little ones.
