Spring Valley Boasts New Playground and Fitness Park After Kaboom! Build Day

Last week, there was only dirt and asphalt in the back lot of the Spring Valley-East  Communities Center, a site that was formerly Spring Valley Elementary School.

Now stands a state-of-the-art playground and fitness park that will serve the residents of Spring Valley and their children for years. But the playground also serves as a symbol of the strength of cooperation between the community and its people—a true representation of what can be accomplished with vision, determination and hard work.

For nearly six months, plans to build the Kaboom! playground have been in the works, as many community agencies partnered with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) and Kaboom!, a national nonprofit that helps save play for the country's youth by creating and building state-of-the-art playground spaces. In November, a brought together kids from the community to draw their ideal playgrounds, which AAOS and Kaboom! used as templates for the structure.

Features of the 6,100-square-foot playground and fitness park include multiple slides and bridges, a tire swing, a running track, an ENERGI™ Total Body Fitness System, and LifeTrail Advanced Wellness System. Kathryn Lusk, a project manager for Kaboom!, said that there are about 40 pieces to the playground, which is bigger than a typical one that they build.

Last week, three volunteer prep days set the stage for the massive volunteer effort on Tuesday. AAOS funded a large majority of the project and provided Build Day volunteers, who are in San Diego for their annual conference and who have built playgrounds in their host cities since 2000.

"I'm overwhelmed with the support. I'm overwhelmed with the professionalism and passion that AAOS demonstrates," said Barbara Warner, collaborative coordinator for the Spring Valley Youth & Family Coalition and one of the project's chief organizers. "They could be anywhere in San Diego, and they're here. We are lucky that we're working with AAOS, since they and Kaboom! are pros."

Those in attendance for the morning kickoff included Supervisor Dianne Jacob and Superintendent Brian Marshall.

Jacob applauded the effort of the AAOS volunteers and their "commitment on behalf of our kids and people of all ages to get out and exercise and stay healthy," adding that it is perhaps more special for Spring Valley than in some other areas in the county. Jacob also announced that she will make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors to allocate $150,000 to help further add to the project site with soccer and baseball fields.

"This is the greatest thing that I've seen in a long time," she said.

Marshall said that the Spring Valley-East Communities Center (SVECC) site "has more than fulfilled the vision" of the site, and that the latest project "will serve the community and its people from birth to old age."

Steve Jella, associate executive director with San Diego Youth Services, said the Kaboom! project represents part of the transformation for the SVECC site.

"When San Diego Youth Services came in as a partner for the site, the entire campus was empty. There was nothing going on here," he said. "The things that were being talked about is what it 'could be.' And what we wanted was the kind of activity that you see today. The transformation in just over one year ... it's gone from nothing to all of this is really unbelievable. We gave ourselves three-and-a-half years, and we've shattered every single one of our timelines."

Warner said that more than 200 members of the community came out and volunteered over the three prep days and Tuesday's Build Day. Many local businesses donated supplies and food. New Seasons Church helped facilitate lunch on Build Day for the 500-plus volunteers. And Cali Comfort Restaurant and Sports Bar donated breakfast for the three volunteer prep days.

"Over the last two years I have been a part of about 40 project builds," said Kenny Altenburg, the Kaboom! project manager. "The prep day breakfasts from Cali Comfort was the best breakfast I've ever had on a site."

At 3:30 p.m., about seven hours after the day began, the playground was cleared and organizers had a ribbon-cutting. Lusk said that about 520 people volunteered and helped build the playground.

The completion of the project is especially gratifying for Warner, who seemingly worked day and night helping to coordinate the project since its initial conception.

"I liken it to pregnancy a little bit," she said. "There is great joy, great anticipation, great trepidation. Then you have a spurt of really hard work, and you feel immense joy.

"I'll probably be face down in some of that mulch tomorrow, but today is great," she joked.