Student-Designed Playground Opens At PS/IS 116
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Students, parents and teachers gathered at PS/IS 116 in Jamaica Tuesday to celebrate the opening of a new playground.
The $1 million space, which was designed by kids, includes a gazebo, basketball courts and an outdoor classroom.
Previously, the 1.3 acre site was a vacant lot.
"Trust for Public Land selected this school as a site to receive a new community playground because it is in an area of Jamaica that doesn't have a lot of available recreational space,” said the trust’s Mary Alice Lee.
“Nothing was here,” said Barbara Fuller, principal of PS/IS 116. “As one of the kids said, it was just concrete. And, for it to go from that to this, and us to watch that happen was really exciting for us."
The playground will serve the school's 800 students and the surrounding neighborhood. Funding came from Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC schoolyards to playgrounds initiative and from private donors.