Hundreds of volunteers gathered at the Waxahachie Family YMCA to build a playground that local kids helped shape alongside adults, hammering it together over a three-day community effort that wrapped up Friday, Oct. 2. The project turned children's drawings and ideas into an actual structure, giving the town a new outdoor space built almost entirely by its own residents.
From Crayon Drawings to a Community Build
The playground's roots trace back to a KABOOM! Design Day Workshop in July, when the Waxahachie Family YMCA brought together children, families and community members to help shape the design, according to waxahachiesun.com. Kids shared elements of their dream playground through drawings and activities, and those ideas fed directly into the adult planning that followed, the outlet reported. The project became possible through a partnership among the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas, KABOOM! and Foresters Financial.
The build itself ran as a three-day community effort from Sept. 30 through Oct. 2, with volunteers from across Waxahachie constructing the playground with their own hands, per the same report. The final day was expected to draw hundreds of volunteers together to finish the job. CBS News Texas captured the finished effort, with Jon McLaughlin of the Waxahachie Family YMCA sharing how the special playground came together.
Part of a Larger Inclusive Park Vision
The playground is one piece of the planned Cindy Hess Memorial Park, which is set to include an all-inclusive playground designed with accessibility in mind. The idea is for a child with mobility issues or cognitive issues to be able to go and play on a playground that's designed for their needs, the outlet's earlier report noted. Y leadership has described building a playground accessible to all as a long-standing goal.
The Waxahachie Family YMCA broke ground on Cindy Hess Memorial Park on June 10, according to ymcadallas.org. The park is designed as an inclusive space that supports physical activity, connection with nature and personal growth, the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas said in its own account of the groundbreaking. That same project, along with a building expansion, carries a combined fundraising goal of $3.7 million.
A Bigger Campaign Taking Shape
The park groundbreaking also marked the launch of Phase I of a broader $10.7 million capital campaign to develop a nine-acre community park, the waxahachiesun.com report on the groundbreaking stated. Once finished, the space is meant to be available to YMCA members and the entire community of Waxahachie, not just those with gym memberships. Jon McLaughlin of the Waxahachie Family YMCA has shared how the playground came together.
Waxahachie's effort echoes similar kid-driven playground builds elsewhere, including a student-designed playground volunteers assembled in a Fort Worth neighborhood, as reported by FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth. For now, the Waxahachie project stands as the latest step in a years-long push to turn a vacant stretch near the YMCA into a park built, in large part, on what the town's own kids imagined it could be.
