Posted 1:52 am Thursday, June 21, 2012
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Ribbon Cut On Boys & Girls Club Splash Park
By REBECCA HOEFFNER
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
Delighted children flooded the new splash park at the Boys & Girls Club Wednesday after the official opening and ribbon cutting ceremony.
The splash park idea sprang up after last summer's record-breaking heat, said Mike Clements, board member for the Boys and Girls Clubs of East Texas.
"It gives children in the community a safe place to play and cool off," he said.
The renovations also include a regulation soccer field, irrigated and sodded with Tif 419 turf, said Judy Drewry, director of development for the Boys & Girls Clubs of East Texas.
Organizational leaders hope to use soccer teams as incentive for at-risk students to do better academically.
"It's another avenue to keep high school students in school," she said.
The idea for the splash park came up when a Boys and Girls Club donor offered a swimming pool, but many of the children who are members of the organization can't swim, said Jo Lampton, executive director of Tyler Base Clubs, which oversees several Boys and Girls Clubs in the area.
The splash park will be opened to children at other clubs, as well as members of the community, and it also features a concession stand.
The $700,000 used for the project came from the "generosity of the community," Ms. Drewry said.
The splash park also will be available to rent for private parties.
Call 903-593-9211 for more information.
