Daily Mining Gazette Article

Tree House playspace nearing completion

By KURT HAUGLIE, DMG Writer
POSTED: November 20, 2009

HOUGHTON - In January, Jessica Della Valla, while watching over her rambunctious 1-year-old son Joseph, had an idea that what was needed in the Houghton/Hancock area was a winter indoor playspace, where younger children from infants to five years old could be safe.
After bringing the idea to the Keweenaw Family Resource Center in Houghton, which Executive Director Cathy Benda thought was a good idea, the project started moving along. Now, after several months of communications with local organizations and individuals, that playspace, called the Tree House Indoor Playground, is taking shape in the Red Ridge Plaza on Sharon Avenue in Houghton.
Although funding for renovation of the retail space in the shopping center has been lined up, Della Valla, who is chairwoman of the task force created to develop the playspace, said more funding is needed to pay for some of the items, which will make up the playspace.
To help with those funding needs, the KFRC will conduct a silent auction from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 28 in the Portage Lake District Library in Houghton.
A couple donations helped get the construction going, Benda said.
"We had two $10,000 anonymous donations to start," she said.
Thursday Della Valla and Benda looked over the progress of the renovation of the space, which will be the Tree House, and both were impressed with how fast work is moving along.
Benda said the construction is being done in two phases. The first phase is nearly complete, with painting and flooring yet to be done. The second phase will involve the installation of the play fixtures.
The idea for the playspace is to create the impression of the outdoors indoors. It will have a tree swing, a slide and a "crash" area where children can bang around safely. On one wall will be a picket fence, and as a fundraiser, pickets are being offered for sale for $100 each. The 200 pickets will have 17 spaces where those who purchase them can have comments printed.
Benda said about one-quarter of the pickets have been sold since fundraising officially began Nov. 1.
Although contractors were hired for much of the renovation construction, Benda said some of the work and items, such as paint and windows, have been donated.
"We're having that kind of outpouring of support," she said. "There are so many people taking on the task."
Della Valla said the items for the auction have been donated, also, and she's hoping it will be successful.
"This has the potential to raise us $10,000 to $15,000," she said.
Benda said the KFRC will offer memberships to the playground for either a "semester," or few months, a school year or a calendar year.
It's hoped the Tree House will be open in January, Benda said, and she's very impressed how far the project has moved in about one year.
"When you look at this, it's kind of mind-boggling," she said. "The community support has been awesome. It just shows how much we care about the wellness of our children."
Della Valla said she would like to see the playground become a community center where parents can talk about issues involved with raising children.
"I hope it's more than a playground," she said.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie @mininggazette.com.