Just add imagination
Newly finished Wildcat Park has something for everyone

by Steve Jones
of the Gazette-Times
9 May 1989

The park that love built was alive with children Monday.

Kids explored every corner and cranny as parents lounged in the sun and marveled at the design, imagination and hard labor that went into building Wildcat Park.

"Is this the day the park is open?" were the first words on Matthew Riebold's lips Monday, said his mother, Barb Riebold.

Matthew had been waiting for what seemed "days and days and days" for the park's completion, said his mother. Despite the wait, he was thoroughly satisfied with the results.

"This is the castle," declared Matthew, who is nearly 4, as he took a somewhat larger guest through the maze of passages in one of the many sets of towers at Wildcat Park.

"It's a haunted castle," insisted companion Clay Stephens as he scooted into a passage that was just the right size for two 4-year old knights in armor to sit and discuss plans for defending their domain.

They had nothing to fear, however, because there is room for everyone and everyone's imagination at Wildcat Park.

By clever design, the paths and bridges keep the advancing horde of youngsters moving on, over, around and through the wooden play structure. In more than two hours Monday, kids ran and played without a single squabble over whose fort was whose, because everyone kept moving.

Pam Stephens, Clay's mother and a Wildcat Park worker, strolled the grounds recalling the effort that went into the park and the closeness she felt for those she worked with.

"I was glad to see kids on this," said Tracy Klein, another Wildcat worker, recalling the hours before dusk Sunday when the first eager kids climbed on the completed structure. "I was glad and sad that all the planning and expectation and ups and downs with the whole thing are over."

As work progressed toward Sunday's completion, the enthusiasm for the project grew, said Stephens. It became like an old-fashion barn-raising. The hundred of people who worked on Wildcat Park built more than a playground: they were building a community, she said.

By Monday afternoon, the enthusiasm had changed to chaos as students from Wilson Elementary and other schools descended.

"These are telephones," declared John Maxwell, 10, as he yelled into a small hole in a wooden post. Moments later came a response loud and clear, "Where are you?"

After more exchange, the callers discovered they were in separate towers of the structure about 30 feet apart. Maxwell theorized that a buried metal pipe carried the voices between the towers.

"They work better than I thought they would," he said approvingly.

Jake Withowski, 8, liked the telephones, too. But his favorite parts of Wildcat Park were the tunnel and the circular slide.

Indeed, the slide was a hit with everyone, even 15-year-old Tyson Morsberger.

"It's a little small," he said, after sprawling into the gravel at the bottom after a fast and short trip. "But it'll be perfect for my little brother."

"When I go down head first on my back, it always turns me over," said a breathless Jason Westlund, 7.

There's something for everyone. The wing of the park nearest Wilson School is designed for wheelchair use. There's a sandbox at waist level and monkey bars that you can reach from a sitting position. The toddler area is fenced off and equipped with benches for folks to keep an eye on the younger ones.

And there are the swings, ramps, bridges -- places for kids to get up and look around, or climb down low and hide away. There is a toy that could be a boat, spaceship, airplane or anything an imagination can make of it.

Imagination is what Wildcat Park is all about.

"We always said we were going to have something that was tangible," said Katherine Inman, a key organizer of the effort. "At the same time we also said we'd have something more -- we'd have a community spirit of having done this together."

This was from the May 9th, 1989 edition of the Gazette Times.