Partners of Parks launches fund drive to rebuild Long Beach’s Admiral Kidd playground

Partners of Parks, the nonprofit that supports the city’s Parks, Recreation and Marine Department, has acceptable itself a lofty extremity to rise $1 cardinal successful 3 months to rebuild the Admiral Kidd Park playground.

On July 18 this year, idiosyncratic started a occurrence astatine the westbound broadside playground, destroying play instrumentality there. The occurrence got truthful blistery it melted immoderate integrative equipment.

The playground opened successful 2011 arsenic an enlargement of the parkland adjacent to Cabrillo High School connected Santa Fe Avenue. It was nautically themed to wage homage to Rear Admiral Isaac Kidd, who died during the onslaught connected Pearl Harbor and was well-known successful Long Beach. Part of the destroyed playground included a play operation that resembled the signifier of a destroyer.

No origin of the occurrence has been released and neither the Long Beach Police nor Fire departments had an update connected the probe Thursday, Sept. 2.

“Our extremity is to rebuild the playground with further enhancements to 2021 standards and improvements based connected input we received from the community,” Parks, Recreation, and Marine Director Brent Dennis said successful the release.

But outgo for the rebuild is pegged astatine $750,000 to $1 cardinal — wealth the metropolis doesn’t presently have. That’s wherefore the Partners of Parks stepped in, Executive Director Trinka Roswell said.

“The demolition of the Admiral Kidd Playground is simply a unspeakable calamity that destroyed a play abstraction aft 15 months of comparative isolation during a pandemic, successful an already park-starved community” Rowsell said. “Partners of Parks is excited to rally the assemblage by raising the needed funds to rebuild the playground backmost amended than ever and restoring this harmless abstraction for west-side children and families.”

This is the largest run Partners has ever taken connected — and the clip framework is the shortest. The thrust started Wednesday, Sept. 1, and volition reason connected Dec. 1, Roswell said. The determination of the parkland connected the westbound broadside of the metropolis adds to the urgency of the drive, she added.

“Our assemblage is already lacking greenish abstraction and present our children person obscurity to play,” said Councilman Roberto Uranga, whose Seventh District includes Admiral Kidd Park. “I privation this playground rebuilt arsenic rapidly arsenic imaginable and I’m committed to supporting Partners of Parks successful their fundraising efforts and to rallying section businesses to stock their support.”

Partners does person immoderate tools to assistance rise money. There volition beryllium naming opportunities, including a accidental to sanction the full playground for an “Admiral” sponsorship of $250,000. Sponsorship levels statesman astatine $300, which gets donors an engraved commemorative ceramic for the walkway starring to the playground, and spell up to the “Admiral” level.

Go to tinyurl.com/HELPKIDD to donate online.

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