DENVER – Six Colorado elementary schools are the first to receive $15,000 in landscape design services as part of their effort to win Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) grants to overhaul their playgrounds.
Schools in Adams, Jefferson, Lake, Lincoln, Mesa, and Summit counties will have the opportunity to work with a design consultant team to create a new vision for their play yards. Once their designs are completed, each school will apply for up to $114,000 each in GOCO funds to bring their plans to life. The grants will be awarded in April. Westgate Community School in Thornton, Westgate Elementary School in Lakewood, West Park Elementary School in Leadville, Limon Public School in Limon, Taylor Elementary School in Palisade, and Dillon Valley Elementary School have all been awarded design services.
This is the third year that GOCO has offered grants to transform playgrounds across the state into spaces that encourage outdoor play and allow for outdoor education opportunities. The 2015 grant cycle is the first time GOCO has also provided design services for applicants.
“We want to help schools dream big and make the best use of their space,” GOCO Executive Director Lise Aangeenbrug said. “GOCO decided to introduce this new aspect of our School Play Yard Initiative to encourage schools that may not have access to design services to apply to our grant program.”
The design consultant team consists of Chris Schooler, MLA, a landscape designer with a strong background in playground design, Tony Mazzeo with Plot Project LLC, a Denver landscape architecture firm, and Mark T. Lang, a construction specialist with Wood Site Design in Evergreen.
Students will also be key members of the design team. A key requirement of the GOCO School Play Yard Initiative is a student-led design process, ensuring the new play yard is a direct reflection of the students’ imaginations.
In the initiative’s first two years, 24 schools serving nearly 10,000 children were awarded grants to upgrade their playgrounds and install outdoor classroom areas. For a complete list of grants, visit www.goco.org/schools.
Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) invests a portion of Colorado Lottery proceeds to help preserve and enhance the state’s parks, trails, wildlife, rivers and open spaces. GOCO’s independent board awards competitive grants to local governments and land trusts, and makes investments through Colorado Parks and Wildlife. Created by voters in 1992, GOCO has funded more than 4,500 projects in all 64 counties without any tax dollar support. The grants are funded by GOCO’s share of Colorado Lottery revenues, which are divided between GOCO, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the Conservation Trust Fund and school construction. For more information, visit www.goco.org.
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