ROCK SPRINGS– On Monday, September 10, the Early Learning Center at Young at Heart were able to revamp the playground surface area.

Major donors for the project were Dominion Energy with a $4500 donation and the Wesswick Foundation with a $3000 donation. Dominion Energy also coordinated a volunteer crew to help complete the makeover.

Legend Services provided the use of equipment and several employees for the day, helping us to complete the project in one day. Several others donated materials and additional funding, they include; families from the center, Genesis Alali, Jim Bridger Power Plant and John Paras Furniture.

With everyone’s help, they were able to purchase playground surface materials, picnic benches, umbrellas, and will install mist line systems on the fence lines in the spring.

A solid border area will also be added to the bottom of the fence in the main playground area, this will help keep the new rubber mulch in the fence when the children are playing.

The majority of the playground was covered in wood chips and offered very little shaded area for the children. The wood chips have blown out over the years, causing unevenness in areas and killing the surrounding grass areas.

To create a softer and more even surface, the wood chips were removed and replaced with rubber mulch. The rubber mulch is softer and should not blow away as easily.

The Sweetwater County Detention Center helped to remove the initial layer of wood chips which was bagged up and offered to the community, approximately 40 large bags were picked up by people and reused.

Equipment was brought in to remove the remaining compacted mulch and the new rubber mulch was put down. Volunteers helped to remove landscaping rock from additional playground areas, helped to trim trees in and around the playground areas, and put together and place the new picnic tables and umbrellas.

The children were excited and grateful for the updated play area, running out to feel the softer surface area under their feet and exclaiming how cool it was and telling the volunteers thank you.

Without the financial donations and volunteers that came to do the work, this project would not have been possible.