RALEIGH -- A decade ago, the old playground at the city's park on Lane Street was torn down. Over time, where a wooden playset once sat nestled among the trees became an occasional hangout for prostitutes and drug addicts.
But the area began to change a few years ago as private developers and city programs redeveloped swaths of dilapidated homes. New residents are lured to the neighborhood by its proximity to downtown and the relatively low prices for homes.
And now, with a the help of dozens of community volunteers and a national nonprofit, Lane Street will get a new playground this fall.
"It's a sign that the area has changed," said Octavia Rainey, a neighborhood leader and the volunteer playground project coordinator. "It's a sign we're moving forward."
The Lane Street project is part of a surge in interest in so-called community-built playgrounds in Raleigh where residents get involved in a playground's design and turn up in droves to build it themselves in a day or over a week. Past park projects have been wildly successful, creating some of the most popular playgrounds in the Triangle.
And it couldn't come at a better time. A lean budget year would make it nearly impossible for the city to complete similar projects as quickly, said Wayne Schindler, the city's park superintendent.
"This would not have been possible without their involvement and support," Schindler said of the groups and companies working on the three projects planned in Raleigh.
The national nonprofit KaBOOM!, which seeks to build a playground within walking distance of every child in the United States, approached Raleigh officials after two contributors had expressed interest in building in the city. The nonprofit connects contributors who want to build playgrounds with city parks departments and others who need them.
Foresters, the life insurance company, is chipping in to pay for the renovations at Green Road in North Raleigh. About 250 people are expected to gather at the park Aug. 29 to build it in a day.
Home Depot is paying for most of the work at Lane Street, helping the city to augment the $70,000 it already had allocated for improvements to the park. Without the KaBOOM grant, it would have taken much longer for the city to complete the renovations, Schindler said.
And the Frankie Lemmon Foundation is helping spearhead what could be an $850,000 plan to replace the 18-year-old All Children's Playground at Laurel Hills Park in North Raleigh. The project to build what organizers are calling Sassafras: All Children's Playground is in the beginning stages. Organizers, who presented plans to the City Council in July, are targeting construction in spring 2011.
"We've got this energy that I really haven't felt any other place," said Alice Lutz, who was project coordinator for the original playground 18 years ago and is now working on its reincarnation. "We know it's the right thing at the right time for our city."
Volunteers have helped to build other playgrounds in the Triangle. KaBOOM! has been involved in one playground in Apex, three in Durham and at least two in Raleigh. Ten years ago, a grant from the nonprofit helped the city build a new playground at a park in Southeast Raleigh. Those efforts have turned out mostly smaller playgrounds that draw from the neighborhood and nearby.
But local groups have undertaken more ambitious projects, building some of the largest playgrounds in the Triangle and turning them into destinations for field trips and playgroups.
The first was All Children's in North Raleigh. The United Way of Wake County led the work to build a play space that included places for children with disabilities. The playground's focus is its castlelike fortress with a maze of tunnels and slides.
In fall 1991, 2,500 volunteers came out over five days to build the playground. They gave up vacation and family time to help build the park, then told their neighbors and friends about it, Lutz said. The playground was packed once it opened.
"Instantly, the playground became a hit," Lutz said. "It really was the first of its kind in our area. There wasn't anything like it."
All Children's was at least part of the inspiration for the Triangle's two other major playgrounds -- Kids Together in Cary and KidsTowne in Apex, which both opened in 2000 after residents raised money for the projects and spent long days helping to build them.
Kids Together in Cary is best known for its mix of play equipment amid leafy natural areas. Like All Children's, KidsTowne features a castlelike design with corridors and obstacles for children to maneuver through.
Both regularly draw bus loads of children for field trips or minivans of playgroup members from farther-flung towns who are looking for an alternative to the neighborhood swing set and jungle gym.
The nonprofit Kids Together formed in 1995 and raised $300,000 toward construction of the $1 million park. The group remains involved, raising money for improvements and holding regular events.
"We want to keep that connection with the community," said Marla Dorrel, president of Kids Together.
Jessica Martinez traveled from Clayton to Cary this week so her 6-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son could play at Kids Together. They found the park last fall after moving to Cary. Since moving to Clayton in April, the family continues to drive 40 minutes so the Martinez children can play at the park.
"It's peaceful and it's just a fun place to go," she said. "There isn't anything else like it that we've seen."
