WBNA is thrilled to announce the completion of park improvements at Dexter Training Ground. Working with the Providence Parks Department, neighbors, and our ad hoc toddler playground committee, we were part of a collaborative process giving neighbors a vital seat at the planning table.
This project proves how including the public in civic processes makes for better outcomes! Park and playground improvements include:
An expanded and all new toddler playground, designed with the Toddler Lot Ad Hoc team that travelled to other playgrounds, did online research, wrote grants, and attended many meetings with the Parks Department
Dexter Training Ground’s first-ever volleyball court, as requested by our neighbors at the Providence Hmong Church
New and improved adult exercise equipment
Dex the Dragon, a custom designed play structure with head and tail designed by Boo Paradiso and wings/benches based on sketches by Jack Ryan & the toddler lot ad hoc team. Dex’s wings were built and installed by Bradford Allard and Hannah Purcell Martin; Dex’s head, tail and body were installed by the Parks Department; and colors were selected by neighbors via Instagram and email polling!
Throughout this two year project, public participation was sought at WBNA Neighborhood Nights meetings, through flyers sent home to every student at Asa Messer and Carl Lauro Elementary Schools and West Broadway Middle School, and through a Build a Dragon Community Workshop held in the park during the 2019 Spring Cleanup, where kids and adults made a dragon out of refrigerator boxes to test designs. We also engaged with the Providence Hmong Church, whose congregants regularly use the park.
Dex the Dragon and all the improvements are unique additions to our park that came about through neighbor participation and by being welcomed and valued by the Parks Department for our input, energy, expertise, and involvement.
In addition to bond funding from the City, WBNA secured a $10,000 grant from the Rhode Island Foundation to create Dex the Dragon. And the Toddler Lot Ad Hoc team gave hours of time writing grants, planning and meeting with Parks on the toddler playground and on Dex.
We thank Mayor Jorge Elorza and Councilor Rachel Miller for their support and funds, RI Foundation for its funding and patience, and Patrick McEvoy and Ben Guglielmi from WBNA’s Parks Committee. Very special thanks to Toddler Lot Ad Hoc team members Melinda Stylos Allen, Seth Zeren, Jack Ryan and Joel Kern, and to the Providence Parks Department for understanding that community involvement and participation makes for a better result.