Despite a setback in schedule, dozens of holes were dug and beams were set giving an idea of the Dragon Park playground’s perimeter and height. The community rebuild for the iconic playground began on Monday and will run through Sept. 23.
Yet more volunteers are needed
LAURINBURG — About 100 volunteers descended upon the James L. Morgan Recreation Complex Monday to lend a helping hand to the rebuilding of Scotland Yard, more commonly known as Dragon Park.
About 50 more are needed, said Bryan Graham, the director of Scotland County Parks and Recreation.
“The initial turnout is kind of slow,” Graham said. “St. Andrews has been a tremendous help, City of Laurinburg has been a huge help … these first two days, but we need the community to come out because this project is for the community.
“It’s not for Parks and Recreation, it’s for every citizen in Scotland County and without their help, it’s going to be hard to accomplish.”
The goal is to have the playground complete by Sept. 23. As of Tuesday morning, the rebuild was behind schedule, mostly due to the heavy rains on Sunday, causing difficult working conditions.
“We had a lot of physical labor that we had to put in yesterday morning to start the day off that initially didn’t anticipate but we had a good group last night, (and) a good group this morning so we’re hoping we’ll get back in the grove,” Graham told the Lauirinburg Exchange Tuesday morning.
Despite the setback, dozens of holes were dug and beams were set giving an idea of the playground’s perimeter and height and Graham foresaw the build getting back on schedule by the end of the day Tuesday.
“You can start to see it slowly coming together,” said Myra Stone, co-chair for the Park Rebuild Committee on Tuesday. “Yesterday, there was nothing in the ground.”
While some of the playground’s original features will remain intact, once the park is complete, Play by Design has reimagined a park that is a lot more user-friendly and accessible for children.
Like the original playground, the park will have two areas; one for toddlers around 2-to-5-years-old as well as an area for children ages 6-to-12 years. Some new features will include two merry-go-rounds, nine slides, a ramp leading to one of the slides, a tree house and an obstacle course.
There are still many opportunities to volunteer at various times throughout the day. Volunteers are needed for various tasks, everything from carpentry and manual labor to handing out food and water and assisting with childcare.
“We have shifts throughout the day,” Stone said. “There are first, second and third shifts. I think the big need right now —we could use more morning shifts. The biggest need are crews that can come together in the morning and do heavy lifting.”
The target is to have about 50 volunteers per shift, according to Graham. There’s a big need for morning, but still, any help is needed.
“We encourage any shift of volunteers to come out,” Graham said.
Volunteer signup is on the build site, located at 1206 Turnpike Road in Laurinburg.
Tomeka Sinclair is the editor of the Laurinburg Exchange. She can be reached at [email protected]