Council listens to town mothers

• HoPP receives city moral support through a resolution calling for action; next meeting comes funding question
By Naomi Klouda
Homer Tribune

The Homer Playground Project leapt a tad higher Monday night after the Homer City Council got behind the group’s work of rebuilding an inspired playground at Karen Hornaday Park.
The council passed resolution 12-013, which “urges community members of all ages to participate in this worthwhile project.”
HoPP brings hundreds of Homer parents, grandparents, carpenters, boulder-movers, painters, swing installers and untold other talents and skills together in an effort that promises to be community building, Miranda Weiss, HoPP coordinator, told the council.
At the next meeting Feb. 27, the council will vote on whether to give an even deeper pocket of support to HoPP by granting $50,000 toward purchasing materials.
In her presentation, Weiss said $50,000 would illustrate local investment for the new playground, and help leverage additional funds including from the Rasmuson Foundation.
“We have a pending proposal with the Rasmuson Foundation for $25,000 and so far, we’ve raised $77,000, so with the (city’s allocation) it would bring us to the point where we could order the materials,” Weiss said.
The money comes from the unspent portion of a state legislative grant for $250,000 for Karen Hornaday Park improvements. Another $55,000 was matched from city funds, bringing that total to $305,000. Some funding was allocated for other park improvements, but the remainder, $235,000, has not been allocated.
HoPP was asking for a portion to help purchase materials for building the new playground designed by Play By Design landscape artist John Dean. Some 300 or more volunteers will mobilize during builders week May 21-27 at Hornaday Park.
“It will feature a tree fort, a twisty slide, climbing structures, a train, a water feature, trails through alders, boulders, landscaping and lots of swings. It will be handicapped accessible and bring families together,” Weiss told the council.
In other carnations, the land now known as 38.3 acres of Karen Hornaday Park was the cleared ground of Mae Harrington’s homestead in the 1940s. She sold to the Homer Fair Association. A parcel of it went to build a hospital in the early 1960s, and ball fields at the fairgrounds were in use prior to it becoming a park by the 1970s. More recently, the park fell into disrepair at the hands of time and vandals.
In a flood of letters to the city council, families wrote in support of the project.
“My grandson used to use Karen Hornaday Park for soccer, T-ball, then baseball, but he enjoyed the playground more than anything, such as it is,” wrote Vikki and Don Deadrick. “We stopped allowing him there, even with friends, due to the trees above and camping area that was attracting other activities and other people.”
By the time half a dozen parents wanting to use the park with their children got involved, broken equipment was strung with yellow “caution” tape, Weiss said. “It wasn’t vandalism, it was time. The equipment’s old and time for those pieces to go.”
Soldotna Mayor Peter Micciche told the council of a similar effort in that town when four moms came to him a few years ago. Soldotna was able to build a model park with the help of hundreds of individuals that today is held up as an example of what the Homer group wants to accomplish.
“When these four mothers came to me, they told me they were going to raise $250,000 and get hundreds of people to help build the playground. When I stopped laughing, I looked them in the eye and I believed them,” Micciche said.
When a group of moms get together, it’s probably best to listen, he said. But dads also tend to find good uses for city parks with their children.
“Even dads like playgrounds that have a lot of variety. It’s fun for the dads. They like to hang out with other dads … It’s a great contribution to our community. I believe it will do the same for yours,” Micciche said.