Fort Pierce - Tuesday October 11, 2022: As the sun rose over the Sunrise City Tuesday morning a group volunteers got down to work on re-building the Kid’s Park at Jaycee Park.
It’s a unique partnership between the city, the Sunrise Kiwanis Club, and public and private volunteers who have joined together in an effort to restore a favorite Fort Pierce destination for parents and their children.
Nick Mimms is the Fort Pierce City Manager. “The City of Fort Pierce is completely behind this project. This is going to help the children and families. And this will be the first all-inclusive playground in the city of Fort Pierce,” said Mimms.
An all-inclusive playground is one that allows children of all ages and abilities to play together, without an area set aside for kids with disabilities.
City Commissioner Jeremiah Johnson said the Commission "has come together with the motto of 'One Fort Pierce,' bringing together vision leadership, community. And we’re just here to say thank you to our volunteers, thank you Sunrise Kiwanis, thank you Home Depot, all of our sponsors.”
The park was in bad shape when the Fort Pierce City Commission began planning 18-months ago … the Sunrise Kiwanis Club stepped with the idea to involve volunteers to make it a community investment and save some money. Club member Tom Perona, is a Fort Pierce City Commissioner and Project Director. “It was deplorable. The city of Fort Pierce stepped up and said we’re going to replace it, so every kid could have the same experience.”
The hope is to have the kid’s park completed by Sunday. More volunteers are welcome throughout this week.