Community Rebuilds Woodstock Playground
Published on July 16, 2019
PRESS RELEASE
July 16, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Sarah Henry, Public Information Officer
510-747-4714
Community Rebuilds Woodstock Playground
On Saturday, July 13, 2019, at 3:39 am, the Alameda Fire Department responded to a fire at Woodstock Park, off 3rd Street near Alameda Point, where arriving crews found the play structure fully engulfed in flames. The intentionally set fire was extinguished, but the playground at Woodstock Park was destroyed.
Since the fire, the City has witnessed an outpouring of support from the community. The City understands and agrees with the need to rebuild Woodstock Park Playground as quickly as possible, as it serves neighborhood children and students at the three adjacent schools, Nea Community Learning Center, Alameda Community Learning Center (ACLC), and the Academy of Alameda, plus local community organizations. The City will soon re-open a portion of the play area, including the zipline, net climbing structure, and swings, once they are confirmed safe.
“Despite this atrocious act, Alamedans have, once again, shown their solidarity and generosity through their calls to action to fund and rebuild the Woodstock Park playground. I’m grateful for this and proud to be part of the Alameda community,” affirmed Amy Wooldridge, Interim Assistant City Manager.
Community members can support rebuilding the playground by making a tax deductible donation to a GoFundMe campaign, which directly supports rebuilding the Woodstock Park Playground: www.gofundme.com/rebuildwoodstock.
Large donors, including businesses, associations, community members, and community organizations, can choose to make tax deductible donations directly to Alameda Friends of the Parks, indicating that the donation is for the Rebuild Woodstock Playground campaign: https://alamedaparks.org/donation/.
The community donation effort and large donors will be recognized on signage at the rebuilt playground.
“Every neighborhood loves its park and Woodstock Park is loved by many. In addition to neighborhood children, Woodstock‘s playground is used by kids from three schools in the area and the Boys and Girls Club. The playground was beautifully renovated less than two years ago to create play structures and space accessible to all children and their caregivers, including those with special physical and emotional needs. Woodstock Park playground will be back, better than ever!” explained Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft.
We use the slogan Parks Make Life Better because it rings true to us all. Our parks in Alameda are our community. We grow up in the parks, we bring our kids to the parks, we take long walks and exercise in the parks.
It will take several months, once funding is confirmed, for playground supplies to be ordered and construction completed. We are cautiously optimistic that we can open the playground by the end of 2019. Thank you to everyone for your support as we rebuild together. When our community comes together, we can make a difference.
####