Ruthanne Lodato Memorial Playground Now Open

PHOTOS: Alexandria Sheriff’s Office; RCPA, Alexandria; John Taylor Chapman via Twitter

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The Alexandria City Council, The Miracle League of Alexandria, and The Kelley Cares Foundation in conjunction with major donor, CVS Health, hosted a grand opening ceremony of the Ruthanne Lodato Memorial Playground on Saturday, June 13.

The playground is named after Ruthanne Lodato, an Alexandria piano and music teacher who was an active supporter of Alexandria’s special needs community.

As part of CVS Health’s commitment to helping people on their path to better health, the company was proud to provide the initial donation of $25,000, to help start the playground project in 2014. The Kelley Cares Foundation and the Miracle League of Alexandria then raised another $75,000 to complete the project. The private sector funding totaled over $100,000 in cash and in-kind services. All the funds were provided to the City for the actual construction of the project, in another successful example of a public/private partnership.

The new accessible playground is located behind the Nannie J. Lee Recreation Center, 1108 Jefferson St. The playground has accessible swings, outdoor music instruments, shade structures, benches, sensory play components, and soft rubber tile surfacing. The playground was built to provide accessible outdoor play at the Nannie J. Lee Recreation Center.

The new playground is also located adjacent to the Lee Center basketball court which was also repaired and recolored concurrently with the playground renovation.

The playground and basketball court are open daily and can be accessed through the Nannie J. Lee Recreation Center building, or through the back parking lot of the Lee Center-Alexandria Fire Training Facility.

For additional information, visit the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities at www.alexandriava.gov/Recreation or the Miracle League of Alexandria at www.miracleleagueofalexandria.com.