Children Break Ground on New Playground

It may have been the first time a ground breaking really broke ground. As in, dig in the dirt with shovels.

But that’s not surprising, given that most of those with shovels were three and four year olds.

The diggers attend the McPhaul Child Development Lab on the University of Georgia campus. They were tackling a slope this week that will in the coming weeks become an amphitheatre and playground.

The design, which includes slides flanking the amphitheatre, comes from Koons Environmental Design, a local firm. Project manager Josh Koons has one son who finished McPhaul and two children currently enrolled there.

Installing the design will cost about $30,000, said Koons. Funded is coming from the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, the Family and Consumer Sciences Department of Child and Family Development, and the McPhaul Child Development Lab

Koons Environmental has been designing lot of playgrounds lately, Josh Koons said, including the one at the university's new childcare center on the Health Sciences Campus in Normaltown. They've completed many projects on the UGA campus as well.

The idea for developing the slope came from Lori Maerz, who works at McPhaul as the program coordinator. Officials expect the playscape to be finished by the end of April.