River Forest School District 90 debuted a new playground at Lincoln Elementary in time for the start of the new school year.
The playground was installed earlier in August off of Park Avenue and Lake Street.
Wanting to put PTO funds to good use, Becky Williams, who was president of the Lincoln PTO at the time, said the PTO decided to apply leftover funds to the project after hearing from the D90 community about the desire for new equipment through a survey.
“Through talking with the district, we found out that the playground that was on Park Avenue was the oldest in the district,” Williams said.
Stephanie Rath, director of communications and community relations, said the playground was established in 1998.
Because of the wear and high use of the park, Williams said the PTO chose to address those needs first.
“With the idea that we would love to do more improvements on the Franklin Avenue side as soon as we could financially,” Williams said.
The PTO said they worked closely with the district, along with Lincoln Principal Casey Godfrey and Chief Operations Officer Anthony Cozzi to roll out the project.
Mia Esposito, PTO co-president, said the PTO also took into consideration incorporating elements that would be age appropriate for younger children.
Because of its location and because it is fenced in, the playground off of Park Avenue is primarily used by the younger grades.
“With the recent addition of Full Day Kindergarten and the upcoming implementation of preschool at Lincoln, this new and inclusive equipment will undoubtedly be a hit with our youngest learners,” Godfrey said.
According to Rath, the playground was designed by Landscape Structures/NuToys and installed by Service Management Inc.
Esposito said the PTO members reviewed and approved a final drawing of the playground during a PTO meeting in early Spring.
The total cost of the project, including demolition of previous park equipment, new equipment, installation, and labor came to $144,670.
The entire amount was covered by the Lincoln PTO. The district did not need to provide additional funds, Rath said.
Part of this was made possible due to the tight budget the PTO ran during the COVID-19 pandemic, Williams said.
“They did a great job of making sure not to spend a whole ton of money during that time and had an idea that they wanted to improve another part of the school,” Williams said.
To be able to pay for the whole project, Williams said the PTO set a goal to raise an additional $35,000.
The PTO held its annual Lincoln Auction, and raised $74,000.
“It was more than we had asked for, which we were very thrilled by that,” Williams said.
With the additional funds, the PTO said they had a “great problem” and were able to begin thinking about upgrading additional equipment on the park located near Franklin Avenue.
The PTO installed six picnic tables to add more outside seating.
“Everybody should have a voice in how we spend money because we raise money from our families,” Williams said.
The cost for the installation of the tables, including the equipment, came out to $26,609.
The PTO hopes to raise additional funds to add shaded canopy to protect the tables and people from the elements. The tables are located on the Northern part of the Franklin Avenue side, between the gym and the baseball field.
“Unstructured outdoor play is so essential for all kids,” Godfrey said. “I couldn’t be more grateful to the Lincoln PTO for this generous gift to our school and to the entire Lincoln community.
