Donations to replace the recently destroyed Dream Playground are pouring in, and if all goes well, a replacement can be finished in 2024.
“We’re optimistic that we can get going on it this summer,” said Steve Methner, president of the Dream Playground Foundation, last week.
Methner couldn’t say exactly how much money had been donated since the playground was burned to the ground on Dec. 20 but estimated there to be between $80,000 and $90,000 already (as of late December).
Wilder Auto Center and Molina Healthcare of Washington each donated $10,000 to the project, and Methner said there was another large donation from an anonymous donor. Methner declined to say how much the anonymous donation was — citing the donor’s privacy — but said the amount was “definitely enough to bring tears to your eyes.”
Methner said how quickly the playground can be reconstructed depends on how long it takes to remove any destroyed material from the site but also supply chain issues and contractor availability.
The architect who helped design the playground feels it’s realistic to begin work in 2024 if all the variables line up.
“I want to expect the best and prepare for the worst,” Methner said. “We do feel like we could get it done like we did the first time with a week-long community build.”
The original Dream Playground at Erickson Playfield on Race Street was opened in 2002 and was one of the largest volunteer projects in Clallam County history. The playground was refurbished in 2021 as the Generation II Dream Playground through another outpouring of community donations and volunteer hours.
The playground was almost entirely destroyed last week by a fire in the early morning hours. Police arrested a minor in connection with the fire, which is being treated as arson.
Donations to the playground can be made at padreamplayground.org.
Arraignment set
A 14-year-old boy arrested last week in connection with the early morning fire Dec. 20 at the Generation II Dream Playground was charged Tuesday afternoon in Clallam County Juvenile and Family Court with first-degree arson, making a false statement to a public servant and resisting arrest.
He is scheduled for arraignment at 9 a.m. Jan. 4.
First-degree arson is a Class A felony, punishable by up to life in prison and/or a $50,000 fine. The standard sentencing range is 21 to 27 months.
The other two charges are misdemeanors, punishable by up to 90 days in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.
Under state law (RCW 9A.48.020), a person is guilty of first-degree arson under four conditions, one of which is he or she “knowingly and maliciously causes a fire or explosion which is manifestly dangerous to any human life, including firefighters.”
An unidentified firefighter was treated and discharged from Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles as a result of the fire.
The fire, reported at 3:44 a.m. Dec. 20, shot flames as high as the evergreens, estimated at 60 feet tall, around the playground at Erickson Playfield at 302 S. Race St. in Port Angeles.
The ferocity of the fire melted a nearby overhead light, as well as parts of an adjacent swing set, and much of the artificial play surface was charred and blackened. The smell of burned materials permeated the park and the sidewalk along Race Street..
The fire melted most of the nearly $118,000 worth of playground equipment the city purchased for the second-generation playground, which was built by volunteers in 2021.
