Making Space for the Entire Community

One of the Play Commission's goals--and one of the elements in this year's Action Plan--is to create gathering places for the entire community that offer areas and activities engaging for multiple generations and areas of interest. Most of Columbia's playspaces are tot lots or play structures designed with only the youngest kids in mind, lacking elements that attract older children or other members of the community.

A recent blog post by Bethe Almeras (DIY Online Community/Communications Manager for KaBOOM!) defines a true community space like this:

[It] should entice folks to stop by throughout the day and evening (prior to closing time), and be a space where people spend extended periods of time engaged in play and social interaction--not simply a quick stop to get the kids out of the house for a few minutes.

Beth continues with some concrete (in some cases, perhaps literally) examples of improvements that help community spaces more closely match the aforementioned goal:

• An asphalt game area for Hopscotch, Four Square, and more;
• A community or children’s garden;
• Benches and conversation pits for parents/grandparents, book clubs, senior citizens social groups, and gardening clubs to meet;
• Tables with checker & chessboard tops;
• A bulletin board for people to announce upcoming special events, clean-up days, etc.;
• A basketball court (can be used for other old-school playground games, too!);
• A shade structure to give folks a place to cool off.

Play Commission Adopts 2009-2010 Action Plan

Members of the Play Commission have finalized their “action plan for play,” a comprehensive list of meaningful action items to be completed between now and May 1, 2010. The goal of these items is to increase the quality of, quantity of and access to play opportunities within the Columbia community.

Items identified by the group include the following:

• Investigate opportunities for holiday/summer use of school district playspaces;
• Assist the school district with plans to redevelop the playspace at the Rapp St. school (a facility that will be converted this summer—once again—into an elementary school);
• Review current location of community playspaces and recommend additional sites;
• Initiate a planning process that better incorporates the needs of preschool kids;
• Identify and design a playspace for seniors;
• Add one or more pavilions adjacent to playspaces;
• Improve signage to Meadow Ridge playspace;
• Deploy a blog to attract community input on playspaces;
• Set up a Facebook page to build support/awareness.

The action plan includes dates for completion of each item and the Play Commission seeks input and assistance from the larger community during the process.

Report from the Play Commission's First Meeting

The Columbia Play Commission held its inaugural meeting yesterday evening and, following an enthusiastic kick-off by Mayor Kevin Hutchinson, progressed rapidly through their agenda during a whirlwind meeting.

The group elected John Traube, owner of Traube Tent & Awning, as Chair and Shannon Zarek, owner of Mokka Kaffeehaus, as Secretary. The election of a Vice President was postponed until the group’s next meeting.

After review and lively discussion, the Play Commission approved the draft Action Plan for Play, a roadmap for their activities during the next ten months.

Members of the Commission also determined to move the date for the community’s first Play Day to Saturday, September 19th. They will continue organizing this event in meetings that will be held bi-weekly, at least through the summer.

The next meeting of the Play Commission is scheduled for Wednesday evening, July 15th, beginning at 7:00 p.m in the Auditorium at Columbia City Hall.

Sounds Like A Plan

Members of the Play Commission at their first meeting on June 30th will finalize this year's "action plan for play"--a document that will identify specific, implementable steps that work towards improving quality of, quantity of and access to play opportunities within the community.

Quantity is defined as the number of usable playspaces, quality is the subjective factors that make playspaces engaging, exciting, interesting, and fun, and access is both ability to get to a playspace (roads, trails) and a lack of barriers (cost, safety, traffic, buildings, equity).

The draft action plan currently presents nine meaningful action items that must be completed between the period of June 1, 2009 and May 1, 2010. Those items include:

• Investigate opportunities for holiday/summer use of school playspaces;
• Assist school district with plans to redevelop playspace at Rapp St. school;
• Initiate a planning process that better incorporates needs of preschool kids;
• Improve signage to the Meadow Ridge Park playspace;
• Add one or more pavilions adjacent to playspaces; and
• Identify and design a playspace for seniors.

The action plan will be open for public comment after it is finalized by the Play Commission and before its adoption by the Columbia City Council.

Keeping Commitments

Communities become Playful City USA communities by meeting five principal commitments:

• Creating a local play commission;
• Designing an annual action plan for play;
• Conducting a playspace audit of all publicly accessible play areas;
• Identifying current spending on capital projects and maintenance of playspaces;
• Proclaiming and celebrating an annual "KaBOOM! Play Day".

This blog will continue to update progress over time on all five commitments. For now, here's a snapshot:

• On May 19th, Resolution 02-2009 established Columbia's Play Commission with nine members;
• A draft action plan has been developed and will be refined by the Play Commission at their inaugural meeting later this month;
• Six local playspaces have been identified and evaluated--community members will be encouraged to add their comments online;
• City staff has reported that Columbia and its local school district together spend about $243,000 annually on 102 acres of parks and open spaces;
• Columbia's first annual "Play Day" is scheduled for Tuesday, September 29th.