Media Contact Only: MosesAlexander Greene: (202) 673-7684
On Wednesday, May 28, 2008, the Friends of Guy Mason, the Ward 3 community, more than 70 volunteers, local businesses, and the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) began a four-day effort to improve the playground at Guy Mason Recreation Center, 3600 Calvert St., NW, in memory of Lyles Parchini. Lyles, a local playground enthusiast and Massachusetts Heights resident, died of leukemia in March 2007, shortly before his third birthday.
This volunteer community-build project was organized by Lyles’ parents, Hadley Boyd and John Parachini, the Friends of Guy Mason, a volunteer non-profit organization that provides support for the Guy Mason Recreation Center, and in collaboration with Learning Structures, a New-Hampshire playground design firm with more than 35 years of experience.
The project will culminate on Saturday, May 31, when volunteers will gather at Guy Mason Recreation Center at 9 am to complete the final build-out. A ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at approximately 3:30 pm to mark the completion of the project.
“This incredible project is happening because of a genuine partnership that was built around the memory of Lyles Parchini,” said Clark E. Ray, DPR Director. “By coming together as a community and volunteering to improve this playground, everyone who is a part of this project is showing us the real impact that volunteering and a community in action can make.”
“This project is a lovely story of community volunteers, the recreation center, local businesses, and the Department of Parks and Recreation coming together to improve a playground where a little boy, who died much too young, loved to play,” said Barbara Boyd, Lyles’s grandmother and Glover Park resident.
Volunteers will:
- Construct a kitchen play structure to support creative play
- Improve and enlarge the sand box
- Install rubber boulders for climbing and musical instruments for playing
- Construct additional seating
- Improve landscaping around the playground area
Local businesses supporting the project include Landis Construction Co., a District-based design and building firm, donating skilled labor, tools and construction coordination; Whole Foods in Glover Park, supplying lunch for the volunteers on Saturday; and Savoy Suites Hotel is providing lodging for Learning Structures staff for five nights.
Due to this project, the playground at Guy Mason will be closed May 28 until the project is completed on Saturday, May 31.
Select from the links below to view plans of the playground project: