Various playground designs drawn by students filled the room as children, parents and staff gathered at Alpharetta Elementary School March 28 for a glimpse of the initial playground design for Wills Park’s most popular playground, Wacky World. Elements from the students’ dream playgrounds will be incorporated into the base design concept that was unveiled during the event.
The new design aims to provide a safe, inclusive, and engaging play space for children of all ages and abilities. The playground will feature a range of new equipment including climbing structures, swings, slides, improved accessibility, enhanced safety features, and inclusive play structures. The 18,000 square foot playground will also incorporate improved sightlines for parents and caretakers as children play.
Project Manager Laura Sehn of Play by Design, the playground design firm handling the project, presented the new concept, which features a dragon tower, an obstacle course, a wheelchair accessible merry-go-round, a pirate ship, a zipline and other amenities.
“The kids have fantastic ideas,” Sehn said. “They thought of things not only for themselves, but they thought of things for younger kids and friends who have limited mobility so that they all can play together.”
Wacky World's story began in May of 1997 as a community-driven project. The community came together to build Alpharetta’s destination playground in just 6 days. 2,673 volunteers worked to build a 1-acre playground suitably named by the local school children as Wacky World. The spirit to come together and participate was infectious, and 26 years later, the City of Alpharetta hopes to replicate those moments as they rebuild the playground in Spring of 2024.
The next stage of the project is securing volunteers and donations. There are various opportunities in areas of fundraising, special needs, crew leadership, site coordination, food & beverage and more. Those interested in volunteering or becoming a committee member may fill out an application form online at www.wackyworld.org. Donations are also being accepted as well as corporate sponsorships.
Recreation Commissioner and Wacky World Committee Member Jeremy Scott said the project funding was kickstarted by the city’s bond referendum, but the project will not be possible without donations.
“What we have is a tremendous opportunity as a community to come together once again and build another iconic playground that generations, including the children here today and probably their children, will be able to enjoy for another quarter century to come,” Scott said. “We believe that by involving our community every step of the way, we can reach our fundraising goal of $1,250,000.”
For more information on donating and volunteering for the project, please visit
www.wackyworld.org, or call 678-697-6048, and follow
Wacky World Community Park Rebuild on Facebook for quick updates.
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