It’s never too cold for a trip to the playground, especially when the playground comes with a spinner. You can see it in the rosy faces of Caitlin Lombardi’s children Maple, age 7, Alma (5) and Pearl (2), whirling like dervishes at the new Fort Ward playground.
“The spinner has been wildly popular,” Lombardi said, “and they are all three on there. I can only make it around once before I’m too dizzy. But they have an endless capacity to get themselves twisted up.”
Not long ago, the Lombardi clan would pack up the car and head to playgrounds around the island: Shel Chelb, Owen’s Playground or the smaller tot lots in Winslow, sometimes the expansive KidsUp! at Battle Point Park.
Playgrounds weren’t a family-time option; they were an imperative.
“We need to go,” Caitlin Lombardi said, channeling her kids, “to get all our wiggles out.”
Bainbridge Metro Parks identified Fort Ward as playground-deficient in its most recent Comprehensive Plan update, and a corner of the Parade Ground park was selected as the site in 2022.
Donations were collected through the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation, and neighbors found creative ways to fundraise including a summertime cut flower sale. Lombardi’s kids held bake sales and lemonade stands, donating half the proceeds to the Fort Ward project and half to Kaboom!, a nonprofit that puts playgrounds in underserved communities elsewhere.
The completed playground features a multi-colored play structure, loop monkey bars and several spinners. Funding included an $8,500 gift (plus two trees and a bench) from the Fort Ward Neighborhood Association, made through the Parks & Trails Foundation. The Foundation added a $2,500 Community Grant, and neighbors raised another $7,105 to complete the project.
The main play structure had been donated to the Park District previously, so the fund drive paid for installation and several additional pieces of equipment chosen by neighbors.
The autumn playground dedication was fittingly rambunctious, as kids (with some help from the Park District staff) planted a Garry oak and a Pacific crabapple for future shade, and spread chips around the equipment. Mostly, they played.
“Healthy outdoor activity is critical for kids’ development, and there was a clear neighborhood need,” said Mary Meier, Parks & Trails Foundation executive director. “Neighbors did a terrific job bringing the project to success through the Foundation. Our youngest Fort Ward residents, their parents and families will all enjoy this playground for years to come.”
Caitlin Lombardi said it was “a really cool introduction to civic engagement” for her children, from the moment the playground was proposed and locations discussed.
“To them, obviously there should be a playground, and it should be the biggest playground in the world and it should have a Ferris wheel,” she said. “For them to see what the pros and cons were, and all the things that needed to be thought through, and to respect everyone’s opinions about it and still advocate for what they wanted, that was a really great experience for them.
“Sometimes they felt like it was taking too long, a huge portion of their young lives,” she added, “but now for it to really be done and for them to have helped, it’s been a special and hopefully foundational experience for them to stay active citizens their whole lives.”
The kids are also satisfied with the results, on the merits.
“Even without a Ferris wheel,” Lombardi said. “That spinner thing, apparently it’s a close second.”
