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A thens is widely known for its avant-garde
culture. The city that boasts a famous
music scene, arts culture and creative
environment added another cutting-edge
venue to its list just a few years ago: the
World of Wonder, an unconventional play
ground in Southeast Clarke Park that may even
entice video game-obsessed pre-teens to ven
ture outdoors.
The WOW park (as it's known), located near
the Whit Davis Road entrance of Southeast
Clarke Park, consists of two main attractions:
a castle and a dragon. The castle, which was
completed in 2004, is the result of the work
and dedication of more than 1,000 community
volunteers. The dragon will be unveiled at a
grand opening ceremony on Saturday, Apr. 19.
A more conceptual play area, the dragon con
sists of a head and two mounds to represent
the backbone and tail. Five "play-points" sur
round the dragon, where kids can swing, twirl
or climb on each apparatus.
"This kind of creative play reduces stress,"
says Amy Flurry, Athens mother of two and co
project coordinator for the dragon construc
tion. "You see a certain-aged kid start to go
inside to their PlayStations, but I believe that
they are still interested in being outside. We
wanted to give them something that would be
interesting, but did not spell it all out—that's
more conceptual and encourages movement,
fosters some kind of intrigue, and stimulates
the imagination."
Kyla Hastie, Flurry's partner in the dragon
construction, says her involvement with the
WOW playground is an effort to support "No
Child Left Inside," a national movement that
encourages children to play outside. "Parks
aren't just 'nice.' It's about children's health,
and getting outside to play is an important
public health strategy," says Hastie. "We have
a crisis in this country with Type II diabetes,
obesity in children and prescription drugs
for ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity
Disorder], all sky-rocketing in children, and
research shows that getting outside can com
bat those things," she says.
The idea for the WOW playground in Athens
was conceived by a group of local mothers
with elementary school-aged children who
were interested in a unique, community-huilt
playground that would appeal to kids of all
ages. The group generated support for the
park and began to research, fundraise, design,
and oversee the construction of the World of
Wonder.
Athens-Clarke County's Department of
Leisure Services offered the land for the
playground, aided with the design, develop
ment and construction of the dragon, and will
assume maintenance once the park is finished.
Throughout the research stage, Athens chil
dren were heavily involved in brainstorming
ideas for their future playground. A children's
committee was formed and submission boxes
were placed in local elementary schools for
kids to propose their own ideas for what the
new park should look like. Flurry says the
overwhelming majority of kids polled wanted
to build a castle and dragon.
"We even gave the kids clay and asked,
What do you think the dragon should look
like?' We really tried to involve the children,"
she says. Lars Hall, an 11-year-old student at
the Athens Montessori School, ultimately drew
the picture of the dragon used for the final
design model.
During the construction and fundraising for
the castle, the committee of community vol
unteers decided to split the WOW playground
into two "manageable chunks," says Hastie,
and she and Flurry spearheaded phase two:
the dragon. Hastie founded the Friends of
Southeast Clarke Park, a non-profit organiza
tion to work in conjunction with the county
to create and maintain innovative park areas
in Southeast Clarke Park, including WOW, the
Skatepark of Athens and Wiggly Dog Field.
The Friends of Southeast Clarke Park asked
professional builders and community art
ists and designers to help build the dragon.
Ollivier Bonamy, an industrial designer, com
mitted to the project and worked on tne
dragon throughout the whole of its conceptual
and construction stages. Mike McCoy, vice
president of Industrial Mechanical, Inc. in
Watkinsville, also devoted many of his days
(plus heavy machinery) to the park. Major
corporate sponsors also include Loco's and
Publix; and the Friends group is still raising
funds for benches and other additions. Various
Athens artists, such as sculptor and painter
Stan Mullins, contributed to the park as well.
Flurry says the willingness of these volunteers
and the "can-do, creative attitude from the
entire community" is the reason the play
ground exists today.
The beauty of the World of Wonder, Flurry
says, is that "it doesn't leave anyone out." It's
open to the whole community, and even the
older kids may put down their video games in
order to come outside and play.
Elyse Beasley
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WHAT: WOW Park Phase II Grand Opening
WHERE: Southeast Clarke Park
WHEN: Saturday, Apr. 19,12-2 p.m.
HOW MUCH: FREE!
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How to travel and stay healthy
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