Nonprofit seeks funds to rebuild Westside playground
The Avondale-based nonprofit, Friends of Jacksonville Playgrounds, is launching its most aggressive fundraising endeavor to date. The organization seeks to raise more than $195,000 in private funds to supplement the city’s budget to demolish and rebuild the now-closed playground in Ringhaver Park located off 118th Street on the Westside along the Ortega River and near Yukon and the Naval Air Station.
The site has been closed since 2019 due to flooding and deteriorating equipment, deeming it unsafe for children to play, according to Kim Clontz, founder of Friends of Jacksonville Playgrounds, who says the playground has been on the City’s list of “playgrounds in need,” for several years.
“I remember taking my daughters there about 10 years ago,” said Clontz. “But when I pulled up to the parking lot last summer and saw how utterly sad the space looked—chained up gates, faded and mildewed equipment and no children playing—it broke my heart.”
Jill Enz, the City of Jacksonville’s chief of natural and marine resources, and a consultant from Kompan playground company have worked with the nonprofit to design a fully wheelchair-accessible playground including a 30-foot climbing and sliding structure called “The Giant,” spinners, musical equipment, swings and low-level play for anyone with a walker or wheelchair, all atop a poured rubber surface. Demolition of the old playground, site preparation, installation and labor, in addition to the cost of the equipment will cost more than $650,000 to complete, a budget that will require public and private funding.
Friends of Jacksonville Playgrounds is a charitable organization dedicated to the art of play. Friends of Jax Playgrounds’ focus is to coordinate components and the various constituents involved to bring a playground dream to fruition.
Other projects by the nonprofit include its first project at Boone Park in Avondale and six other projects at Pine Forest Elementary School Playground in San Jose, Whitehouse Playground in Whitehouse, Huffman Boulevard Playground in Sandalwood, Bruce Park in Arlington, and Warrington Park and Lonnie C. Miller Playground on the Northside.
The City acquired the land comprising Ringhaver Park in 1971, 1972, 1996, and 2000. The park is named for Lambert C. Ringhaver (1910-1976), whose family made a memorial donation for the initial park development, which has grown from 36 acres in 1977 to 576 acres in 2003. Mr. Ringhaver was the founder of Ring Power Corporation and served as president of the Florida Forestry Association, as a trustee of Jacksonville University and as president of the Greater Jacksonville Open for two terms. The multi-use park is home to the Westside Soccer Club and the Ortega Stream Valley nature area, which contains an 826-foot boardwalk along the Ortega River and a pier that may be used for launching kayaks and canoes.
To learn more and support the Friends of Jacksonville Playgrounds efforts, visit www.jaxplaygrounds.org.
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