Putting the 'community' in 'community park': groups partner to redo Hanover playground

A local playground is getting a total makeover thanks to a community effort that has emphasized the "community" in "community park."

The effort to renovate Hanover Borough's Wirt Park playground has been a collaborative effort between the Hanover YWCA, Campbell's Snacks, the Hanover Rotary Club and Hanover Borough government, Hanover YWCA CEO Jody Shaffer said in an interview Friday.

"I've worked in the human services field for 35 years and I've never seen a community come together from so many different groups and people to bring this project to fruition," Shaffer said.

Shaffer said the YWCA first became involved as it looked for outdoor space for its childcare programs at its building on West Chestnut Street. With the YWCA soon taking part in a significant expansion of its building and hoping to double its childcare programs, the need for an outdoor space was high on their priority list, Shaffer said.

Due to the age of the playground equipment at Wirt Park, the playground did not meet the Department of Health regulations that the YWCA follows, Shaffer said. That meant kids were mainly limited to playing in the gym at the YWCA and could not safely utilize Wirt Park.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Shaffer approached the YWCA's board about utilizing newly available funding and grants to offer funding for a new playground at the park to Hanover Borough government.

When the Hanover YWCA approached borough government with an offer of $100,000, it turned out the borough was already looking into the same idea, Shaffer said.

Upon the proposal by the YWCA, Shaffer was told by Public Works Director AJ Grimm that renovating Wirt Park was high on the borough's list to be redeveloped in the next year.

"The timing of this happening was perfect," Shaffer said, and the Borough and YWCA began a collaboration that grew beyond the two partners.

Campbell's Snacks, which formed in 2018 after Campbell's purchased Snyder's-Lance Inc. in Hanover, has been a frequent partner to the Hanover YWCA over the years, Shaffer said. When leadership from Campbell's Snacks heard about the playground project, they told Shaffer Campbell's wanted to help make it a reality.

Campbell's Snacks provided several grants towards the purchase of playground equipment, Shaffer said, but they also lent something else: 32 staff members who volunteered to assist with the installation of the playground.

On Thursday and Friday, those staff, clad in red Campbell's shirts, could be seen spreading gravel, laying out rolls of underlayment, spreading mulch and assisting with the equipment.

The Rotary Club of Hanover also came forward to offer its help.

When Shaffer said they would like to have additional seating, the Rotary Club provided a $5,000 grant to help add six more benches to the playground. On Friday morning, eight volunteers from the Rotary Club showed up to assemble those benches.

The support has been tremendous, Shaffer said.

"This is not just going to be for the YWCA kiddos," Shaffer said, "but the whole community."

The majority of the renovated park, for ages 5 to 12, is expected to open to the public in the next week, though a "tot lot" for one-year-olds will be delayed until 2024 because of the need for a specialized rubber flooring material, Shaffer said.

While the groups were assembling the park, children from the YWCA's childcare programs were brought to see the construction, said Janice Bankard, director of development for the YWCA.

Their faces lit up when they saw the park, Bankard said, reinforcing for her why the project is so important.

"The impact, when you think about the children and what it does for them, is just immeasurable," Bankard said.

Bankard and Shaffer hope the renovations will bring more life and activity back to Wirt Park, which has recently begun hosting more local events, including the annual Hanover Diversity Festival.

Now, thanks to the partnership, there will be a better, safer place for the neighborhood to gather and play.

"It's truly a collaboration of lots of minds and a willingness to work together," Shaffer said, "and it's going to benefit the community."

Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for The Evening Sun. Contact him at hjones@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Hanover Evening Sun: Community comes together to redo aging Hanover playground at Wirt Park