This is a story about blastoffs and landings, big dreams and small gestures, and how an upstate community just south of Chicago is helping to bring joy to a downstate town just east of the Mississippi River.
In short, it is the kind of story Illinois needs after years of being criticized, laughed at and beaten down for its inability to get along.
Alsip Park District employees are currently dismantling the 20-year-old playground equipment at Apollo Park, 12521 S. Kostner, to make way for a new red-white-and-blue rocket-themed set up. The project, which was inspired by public feedback during a July ice cream social, represents a return to a space-themed play area similar to one that was popular many years ago in the village, said Jeannette Huber, director of parks and recreation.
With a target date of June 1, the new park area will feature two rocket ship structures, one for 5-12 year olds and one for 3-5 year olds, as well as many inclusive play opportunities, Huber said. There also will be a new crosswalk, a new seating area, enhanced driveways and areas that feature a safety surface, she said. In addition, the public can buy a brick for a pathway that memorializes their support.
“It’s very exciting,” Huber said. Since the park is named Apollo, it’s fitting that it have a space theme, she said.
So far, she said, the district expects the board-approved project to cost around $500,000, which is $50,000 under budget.
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The story gets better.
As Alsip was putting together its new park plans, the tiny community of Plainville, Ill., was doing some dreaming of its own.
Located some 17 miles from the banks of the Mississippi River at Hannibal, Mo., Plainville can’t afford to buy new playground equipment, Mayor Chuck Epley said.
It can’t even afford to apply for one of those matching grants because, Epley said, “We don’t have the funding to come up with the other half.”
But late last summer, as Epley read in the local news about other towns securing grant money and making plans to build new playgrounds, he wondered if one of them might be willing to send some used equipment Plainville’s way.
“I don’t do Facebook,” Epley said, but he knows people who do. Some of them put out a call on his behalf for some repurposed swings and slides.
Huber said, Alsip Parks Commissioner Jerri-Lynn Kleina saw the post and reached out.
“Literally, within hours,” Huber and Epley were talking, Huber said.
With the park board’s approval, Huber said, plans were made to donate the old equipment, which was installed at Apollo Park in 1997, to Plainville.
This past week, workers in Alsip have been dismantling the equipment and loading it onto a semi-truck. When it’s all down, she said, they’ll drive it southwest to Plainville, where Epley will be ready to receive it.
“When you’ve only got five streets and a half dozen stop signs, you’re probably not considered much of anything,” said Epley, when asked if his town of 264 residents is a farming community.
“I guess to somebody in Chicago we would be considered a farming community. Half of the people in town own chickens, it seems like,” he said.
But the definition of farming has changed and today, he said, most of the working citizens of Plainville commute to jobs in nearby Quincy or Hannibal.
One thing the town does have, Epley said, is lots of kids. It was for them that the mayor said he went in search of playground equipment to replace the 80-plus-year-old swings and such that now stand.
“This is going to do so much for our community. I can’t even really explain. It’s going to make the kids happy. People will take pride in what we’ve got. It’s just gonna be all around fabulous,” he said.
But Epley wanted to make clear that the credit belongs with the Plainville board.
“I just had the idea,” he said. “Our town board wants to make the community better.”
And that’s important, he added.
“I just feel these little communities are either going forward or going backwards. We’re a town of 250 people. I think the census said 264. And we just don’t have a lot of funding for something like this. And a park, in my opinion, is something that brings a community together,” he said, much like the notion of swapping park equipment unites those in the recreation field.
“We got a lot of grass — a ball diamond and some tennis courts. But we don’t have a lot of playground equipment,” he said.
The newer items, he added, will bring hours of fun for kids, as well as a sense of pride and ownership.
Epley said small towns like Plainville are no strangers to asking for help. “We have other towns that are four-to-five times bigger than us that help us out with spreading salt when it’s icy. As soon as they get their streets done, they come over and help us,” he said.
“It’s important for communities to look out for each other,” he said. “We have to if we’re gonna survive, in my opinion.”
Epley was able to find a trucking company to donate the equipment transport from Alsip. And, he said, the town can swing the cost of having the newer equipment installed.
“Our hope is for kids to be playin’ on it this spring,” he said.
There’s one more twist of serendipity to this story.
It turns out, Huber’s in-laws are from the Quincy area.
“I go down there every year,” she said.
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So this year, when she made plans to visit during the holidays, she set aside some time to meet with Epley.
“He drove me around. He’s a firm believer in keeping the community together and giving them amenities,” she said.
The two community leaders, she said, have a lot in common, in terms of wanting the people on whose behalf they work to have a better quality of life.
“It really is a small world,” she added.
Huber said though she can’t recall a similar repurposing of equipment like this ever happening in the parks world before, she’s in favor of it happening again.
“It’s an outside the box thought,” she said. “There are national organizations that will come in and ship your old playground around the world. But something like this, I haven’t heard of it.”
As exciting as it is to know Alsip will be returning to its rocket park days, which many older residents fondly recall, Huber said, “It’s an even better feeling to help another community that doesn’t have the resources we do.
“Hopefully,” she added, “sharing is something we can continue to do in the future.”
Twitter @dvickroy