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Greening Project Off to a Great Start!

An $85,000 foundation grant has been awarded for the “greenovation” of Nason’s Corner Park, known to our students as Breakwater's playground.

The design plan retains the open sports fields, but adds trees, gardens, hills, boulders, seating, walking paths, parking improvements, and many natural play features as well as equipment. The public-private collaborative working on the project includes Breakwater School, the City of Portland Department of Public Services, Nason's Corner Neighborhood Association, Portland Trails School Ground Greening Coalition, and has invited input from other groups as well.

“This initiative is about working together in challenging financial times to revitalize our playground and adjacent public park, both of which are used heavily by the community and the School,” explains David Sullivan, Head of School. At a time when municipal and private organizations nationwide are facing budget cuts, a collaborative effort brings people and resources together to achieve a greater goal than each organization could accomplish individually.

The project recognizes the importance of having parks and natural green spaces locally accessible to families. The natural playground design follows a national research-based trend that recognizes that children benefit from interaction with nature. The new playground to be built this spring in Deering Oaks will also follow this design trend. Green park destinations accessible on foot or by bike also contribute to adult health and community quality of life.

Public Services Director Mike Bobinsky commented that “Using more collaborative working relationships at all levels for future parks and open space funding in the City of Portland is even more critical today given the constraints of our City budget. No longer is that approach a ‘nice’ thing to do, but rather a baseline approach to certain park, trail and open space developments in our city.”

The grant for the Nason’s Park / Breakwater Grounds Greening Project is anonymous and comes from a private out-of-state foundation with ties to the Portland community. The collaborative group is seeking further support for the project from public and private sources including the Breakwater community, the City of Portland, the neighborhood and park users.

Sarah Coffin Witte and Amy Segal of Terrence J. DeWan & Associates are the landscape architects for this project. The design process has been guided by input from the Breakwater School community, athletic team representatives, neighbors, the City of Portland Public Services Department, as well as current research on the impact of natural playscapes for children. This grant will enable Breakwater to complete the design and development phase of the project, initiate public fundraising, and launch the first phase of construction to begin as early as this summer. Total project costs are currently estimated to be between $400-600,000, depending on the inclusion of more costly design components. Construction will be phased as funding allows.

For more information about the Greening Project contact Kathy Damon at 207.772.4295 x223.

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