Community celebrates grand opening of new All-Inclusive Playscape at Lions Park

It was a day of celebration at the brand-new East Avenue Lions Park All-Inclusive Playscape on Thursday, Dec. 12, as a grand opening ceremony was held by the Gonzales Noon Lions Club.

The event was the culmination of years of work that began when community members noticed a lack of ADA compliant play structures for children with special needs and brought that to the attention of the Noon Lions Club, which had installed the existing playground equipment 25 years earlier.

“You know, I don't think that any of us really recognize day to day what it is to get up and put one foot in front of the other and not need something like this,” said Lions Club Park Committee Chair Garen Reese as she was overcome with emotion.

“The kids love it. As you can tell, we've seen lots of kids playing over the last several days, and we have also played on it. It means a lot that people would open their hearts and their checkbooks to support this.”

Reese said the club made funding and building the new playscape a high priority to tackle immediately after installing the sun shade at the adjacent Lions Splash Pad.

“There's been numerous people that have played a very large role in seeing that this was designed, and reviewing playscapes, and making sure that we provided something that was really beneficial to our community,” Reese said.

The Gonzales Noon Lions Club Foundation, represented by President Cindy Rodriguez and Treasurer Britney Jones Caka, stepped up immediately, as did Gonzales Noon Lions Club President Kristi Posey and Lions Club International Foundation and Past District Governor Andy Rodriguez and Texas Lions District 2-S5 – Past District Governor Jane Istre.

The project got a much needed shot in the arm from Gonzales Economic Development Corporation executive director Susan Sankey and her board of directors as well as Gonzales Area Development Corporation (GADC), led by President David Lindeman.

From there the project started to gain a lot of momentum with assistance from G & K McLain Charitable Fund, Gonzales County Mental Health Advisory Board, The Horner Family Charitable Gift Fund and a late contribution via Amazon and Texas Sen. Lois Kolkhorst’s office.

City officials, including City Manager Tim Crow and Parks Director Ralph Camarillo, made sure the old playscape was removed after the new playscape was installed, Reese said.

Even more exciting, however, was that the community bought into the need for the playground and donated more than what was originally sought, Reese added.

“Our original goal was $275,000 and a large part of that comes from the EDC and LCIF, but our community raised in excess of $150,000 that exceeded our project total, which allowed us to add more flooring,” Reese said. “There'll be other things that come out here as well to the park. We have a fountain and a really cool bench coming. There's going to be other seating areas as well to provide people a lot of different opportunities to share the park and this space.”

Reese said she hopes that the next generation of Lions will one day add on to the playscape so that it remains an asset for the community.

Cindy Rodriguez echoed Reese’s sentiments, stating she knows all Lions are “extremely excited about the community’s interest and investment in the All-Inclusive Playscape!”
“In addition to major funders, numerous individuals, churches, organizations, financial institutions, and foundations have made monetary donations,” Cindy Rodriguez added. “The City of Gonzales removed the 25-year-old playscape and made way for the new and improved All-Inclusive Playscape we see standing in front of us today.

“What a wonderful addition to our community! We invite children and parents to come to the playscape and see all the features it has to offer. As we gift Lions Playscape to the City of Gonzales, we are ever thankful that we were able to provide this unique playscape to our community.”