9-6-13 ribbon cutting marks opening of new hamilton park playground

Four months after a near downtown Fond du Lac neighborhood park playground was destroyed by an arson fire…a new and bigger playground is open for children and families to enjoy.  A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Thursday afternoon for the new Hamilton Park playground.  Angie Leu and her daughter live in the neighborhood.  "Its fantastic, beautiful,"  Leu told WFDL news.  "... the structure is, whoever designed it, its a fun design."  Father Bryan from St. Paul’s Cathedral says the new playground is an asset to the neighborhood.  "Our Sunday school children from the Cathedral collected aluminum cans, and the money from the cans they donated it toward the project,"  Father Bryan said.  "It was 82.82 pounds of aluminum which translated to $42.42, but for kids that's pretty good."  Luke Tautges with BCI Burke describes the playground design as a fusion of the 

company’s Nucleus and Intensity playground lines.  "We have a lot of equipment that promotes with the upper body strength and we have spinning equipment which helps for inner-ear development, their sense of balance.  Swings are always something that's great, two diggers in the sand area are more of a tactile approach.  The kids really seem to enjoy that,"  Tautges said.  "We do have the 2-5 (year old) equipment geared to the younger age group."  Fond du Lac Public Works Director Jordan Skiff says he’s impressed with the final product.  "I('m blown away by how extensive and attractive the playground is,"  Skiff said.   Skiff says the new playground was made possible through the generous donations from local residents and a $10,000 gift from the Stone Family Foundation.