Thirty years ago, in 1994, a crowd of volunteers descended upon Creekside Park to build the Creekside Kingdom playground. During the past two weeks, history repeated itself as volunteers — some old and some new — once again built a playground at Creekside Park.
While the previous wooden structure had served the community well for three decades, it was showing its age. The Lowell Rotary Club spearheaded the effort to raise $400,000 to pay for the design, materials and other expenses required to tear down and rebuild the playground. All funds have come from private donations and grants, including a generous gift from King Milling. In gratitude for their contribution, the playground’s official name is now the King Milling Creekside Kingdom.
The new structure is made of composite materials and has new elements, but with its castle towers, it is reminiscent of its predecessor.
And like its predecessor, the King Milling Creekside Kingdom needed an army of volunteers to become a reality. For two weeks, people of all ages and abilities pitched in to clear debris, move boards, assemble parts and spread pebbles and mulch. Some came for an hour and others — like Bob Pfaller, who was there for every shift of every day — were there all week.
Now that the work is done, the entire community is invited to come check out the playground and celebrate its completion.
The King Milling Creekside Kingdom Opening Celebration will take place on Sunday, Oct. 6, at 1:30pm at Creekside Park (1550 Gee Dr). There will be burgers and snacks, and the playground will be open for children to enjoy.
Our thanks to the Lowell Rotary Club for having the vision to tackle this project and to the many volunteers and sponsors for making it a reality.
I want to thank the Doyle family for the generous contribution to this project, as well as the Lowell Rotary Club for spearheading this effort. I’m proud of this community!
Living in Lowell for 30 years and then moving, we watch with incredible joy as this is a awesome community. Thank you Doyle Family for your gift to make this possible. As a college professor, I speak of the philanthropy of the Doyles and having known the all; they are a huge asset to Lowell!!!