Riverside Files: Day Three

Riverside Park is less crowded with volunteers today. The bright pink and blue playscape, decorated with drawings by little Emilie Parker, was completed by the end of Day Two.

Today involved the last step in completing the playscape; the pouring in place of a rubber safety surface which, in addition to being the safest playsground surface, also meets the requirements of the Americans with Disabilites Act.

Somehow, the word "playscape" is the wrong word to describe what has been done here in the shady grove overlooking the Thames River.

Wikipedia describes a playscape as a "...playful landscape characterized by the occurrence of enjoyment by the public and all those who interact with it." and, while that may be partially true, there is more than that going on here.

For those of us involved in the campaign to save Riverside Park, it means that the chances of ever offering any part of Riverside for sale again is very unlikely and that the needs of the families and children of East New London
have finally been recognized.

But, more than that, it is a tribute to the human spirit, an affirmation of life and a recognition of our commonality.