Daniel Bagley Greenfield Project

So, you are probably asking why the playground is fenced off, with backhoes and excavators and dump trucks parked all over it.   Why, it's for the new Bagley Greenfield and playground!

From the Greenfield committee before school ended:  "This is what we can expect to come back to in the fall":

• 10,000 square feet of grass field
• Over 5,000 square feet of new planting bed
• Painted running track
• Beautiful finish line bricks
• Existing asphalt chipped & sealed
• New timber wall
• Wall ball post
• Tether ball post (3)
• Painted US map - volunteer work party next week
• Four square (6) and Round four square (2)  - volunteer work party next week

The good news:  It's a big upgrade from the old asphalt-only playground.  The parent-volunteer-run-committee raised $125,000+ last year through grants and donations to make it a better place, which is pretty cool, given the state of the economy.


The bad news:  The grass playfield part will be seeded soon, and then will be fenced off for the entire year to let the grass grow - otherwise it will be trampled into a soggy mess, and have to be redone again next year.


The I-don't-know-news:  It is supposed to be finished before the first day of school.  It didn't look like much was happening when I was there yesterday, and there is only access to the small play structure at the bottom of the picture (below) right now, but apparently the project is on track per this e-mail to the vlist from Farhad, one of the Greenfield organizers, on August 14:

"Construction for the Bagley Green Field project is well underway and we are still anticipating completion September 2^nd."

***UPDATE 8/17/11*** GF Committee says it is on track, or even ahead of schedule, and everything will be open for the kids by the first day of school except for the grass-seeded portion.  Woohoo!

I would direct you to the webpage or the Facebook group, but the info is kind of old (e.g. talks about pervious pavement, which was way out of the budget).  Here's their nice little graphic to give you an idea of what to expect - there is probably something more recent, but this will be close.  Top is north.

Grand opening party for Greenfield & Bagley Garden:  Saturday September 17, 1-4pm
****UPDATE 8/20/2011 from Farhad, via the vList:"Construction for the Bagley Green Field Project continues….the status so far:

This week:

• Field and new paving areas are graded
• Irrigation being installed

Next week:

• Irrigation to be completed
• Topsoil and seeding to be installed
• Paving to be installed

As for the field, we are going with the seed option as opposed to sod. The reason for this is that the asphalt portion of the project will cost a bit more than estimated.  Also, we just found out that the school district has a rule that we must keep the field area barricaded off for 6 months.

Volunteers, we have the work party schedule out! Please choose the date(s) that works for you as we’ll be counting on your support.  If you cannot remember whether you committed hours or not, please send me an email and I can let you know.  The work plan for our first work party on Sept 10^th will focus on installing the engraved bricks.

GFP work party dates:

Sept 10 (10am-12pm) – Brick installationSept 17 (1pm-5pm) Green Field Project Grand Opening and Garden Grand Re-Opening CelebrationSept 24 (10am-12pm), Sept 25 (1pm-3pm),

Oct 8 (10am-12pm), Oct 9 (1pm-3pm),

Oct 15 (10am-12pm), Oct 16 (1pm-3pm),

Oct 22 (10am-12pm), Oct 23 (1pm-3pm),

If additional hours are needed to meet the grant requirements:

Nov 5 (10am-12pm), Nov 6 (1pm-3pm)"