Fort Pierce - Wednesday October 5, 2022: The Jaycee Park out on A1A in Fort Pierce closes next Monday for a week to allow for the old kid’s park there to be re-built. The closure effects the entire park including the pavilions, the boat ramps, the playground areas, and the parking lots.
To get the job done the city is counting on much of the re-building work to be done by community volunteers.
The old playground has already been torn down, the construction material and tools are on hand, and Tom Perona, a Fort Pierce city Commissioner, and the project coordinator, says all that’s needed now are community volunteers to show up, starting next Tuesday at 8 am, and help build the new playground.
“You have to sign in, you sign a waiver, you get a name badge, based on your skill level. And then your assigned to a build captain. Most of the work is just carrying lumber, you’ll be told how to drill a hole, to put in a screw.”
Perona is also a member of the Fort Pierce Sunrise Kiwanis Club which is organizing the volunteer effort. To learn details about the re-build and what to wear, sign up at: kidsparkatjayceepark.com
You can volunteer for an hour or more, anytime between Tuesday October 11 and Sunday Oct.16.
“There are other jobs too that we’re looking for," said Perona. "Say if you don’t really want to be out in the field, we serve two meals every day and a lot of times we’re looking for volunteers to be able to help out with that.”
The park brings in over 200,000 visitors every year, it’s recognized as a valuable city asset and the re-build could have easily cost over a million dollars says Perona, but with volunteer labor, the price tag is down to $650-thousand.
“This is how Fort Pierce defines community. And it pulls us together and we work it all out. Having the community in there to make it their own I think is the biggest price of all.”
When completed, the re-built playground will have 40 different features including a climbing rock wall, a conch shell tunnel, a giant pirate ship and a zipline.
The re-built park is scheduled to re-open on Monday, October 17.
