Tonight, the Tacoma City Council authorized approximately $32,000 in support of the Larchmont Community Schoolyard Project. This contingency fund request – sponsored by District 5 Council Member Joe Bushnell, At-Large Council Member Kristina Walker, and District 2 Council Member Sarah Rumbaugh – provides the final funding needed to complete this project after a recent reversal in federal grant funding disrupted construction.
“Having been a student at Jennie Reed Elementary School, and now a Council Member who has gotten to watch the Community Schoolyards Project transform a playground that had hardly changed since I was a student, I can say firsthand what an impact the Community Schoolyards Project has had here in Tacoma,” said Council Member Bushnell. “I am heartened to see that the Community Schoolyards Project partners did not let the loss of a $1 million grant stop them from completing the projects promised to Tacoma. It is an honor to provide the final funding to get the Larchmont Community Schoolyard Project over the finish line.”
The Trust for Public Land, Parks Tacoma, and Tacoma Public Schools have made it their mission to transform Tacoma’s schoolyards into vibrant, community spaces through the Community Schoolyards Project. They are working to ensure that every person in Tacoma has a quality park within a 10-minute walk of home by maximizing the use of existing schoolyards as improved play arenas and increasingly natural spaces for children as well as adults. The first five pilot locations will serve more than 25,000 people in Tacoma’s South End and East Tacoma neighborhoods.
“We are so proud of our partnerships on Community Schoolyard Projects and what it means for students and their communities,” said Tacoma Public Schools Board President Korey Strozier. “Completing the Larchmont project – the fifth so far in Tacoma – means more green spaces for Larchmont kids to thrive and solidifies this space as a community hub. Thank you to Trust for Public Land, City of Tacoma, and Parks Tacoma for making it possible even with the loss of federal funding. This really shows what can happen when a community lives out the values of One City.”
More information on the Community Schoolyards Project is available at parkstacoma.gov/project/community-schoolyards.