Hundreds of volunteers work on new Alton Park playground

Sandy Falknor, left, and Celeste Bradley paint what will become the top of a picnic table on the old Piney Woods Elementary School playground. In addition to picnic tables, volunteers built sandboxes that double as sitting benches as well as a music wall with a xylophone, pots and pans and large wooden spoons to bang out sounds. They installed swings, slides, bright orange tunnels and climbing bars, resurfaced the basketball court and added walking trails. Sandy Falknor, left, and Celeste Bradley paint what will become the top of a picnic table on the old Piney Woods Elementary School playground. In addition to picnic tables, volunteers built sandboxes that double as sitting benches as well as a music wall with a xylophone, pots and pans and large wooden spoons to bang out sounds. They installed swings, slides, bright orange tunnels and climbing bars, resurfaced the basketball court and added walking trails.

By Yolanda Putman May 18, 2016 1 min read

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Hundreds of volunteers work on new Alton Park playground

Andriene Tate, Brandon Burge and Mike White, from left, hold up a piece of playground equipment as people secure it. KaBoom, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing play to kids, chose the Alton Park Development Corporation because it is a nonprofit agency that serves youth in an area that needs a playground. And BlueCross BlueShield agreed to fund it.

Sharon Gentry helps assemble playground equipment on the old Piney Woods Elementary School playground. The playground had been deteriorating since the school closed in 1989. The swings were broken, and the other equipment wasn't safe.

Diamond Martin, left, and Amber Williams mix concrete for the playground. Several contractors including Hanner Construction, Tower Construction and Adamson Developers volunteered to prepare the site for the playground, said James Mathis, who did preparation work and designed the layout.

Steve Kilgore, David Geyer, Chris Singleton and Charlie Rosenquist assemble a piece of playground equipment. Dr. Elenora Woods, executive director of the Alton Park Development Corporation, met with several youth and adults earlier this year to get ideas for the playground and learned that, although there were other recreational areas, some of them didn't allow children older than 12.

BlueCross BlueShield Chief Human Resources Officer and Senior Vice President Karen Ward, Chief Financial Officer John Giblin and Jack Khera, from left, check to see if playground equipment is level while installing it. Blue Care Tennessee Supervisor Ellie Barnette said her heart flutters when she thinks of the Alton Park community's potential. She calls the Emma Wheeler site the home of future U.S. presidents and doctors.

Karen Harris, front, and other volunteers rake a trail added to the playground. Greg Calhoun, president of the Alton Park Development Corporation, said he envisions a revitalization of the entire Alton Park community with the new playground being the catalyst.

A long-decaying playground took on new life and possibilities Tuesday when nearly 300 volunteers gathered at Piney Woods Elementary School on a $180,000 project to erect new playground equipment, resurface a basketball court and more.

It was the 11th such playground to benefit from a KaBoom BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Health Foundation grant.

BlueCross BlueShield donated about $85,000 each for previous playground projects. But for the playground across the street from the Emma Wheeler Homes public housing site, community support was so great the company doubled its usual contribution. Later Wednesday night, BlueCross Blue Shield tacked on an additional $10,000.

“They believed in us,” said Dr. Elenora Woods, a local dentist and executive director of the Alton Park Development Corporation.

Contact Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 757-6431.