Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Rick Cunico, left, and Kurt Rowe, of Angelo Luppino Construction, work to pour fittings for the new playground equipment at All Saints Academy in Ironwood Tuesday afternoon.
IRONWOOD - All Saints Academy's playground is getting a new look.
Workers were pouring concrete footings around new pieces of bright, primary colored slides, swings and climbing structures Tuesday afternoon.
Lead teacher Emily Lightfoot said the students are getting excited to play on the new equipment.
The old equipment, which was removed a few weeks ago, was showing its age and needed replacement, said Lightfoot.
But the addition of an infants and toddlers program at the school changed the needs in the playground, as well.
The former 2- to 5-year-olds fenced in play area is now for the infants and toddlers, so the new equipment in the main part of the playground needed to be rated for 2- to 12-year-olds.
Lightfoot said the school, part of the Our Lady of Peace Catholic Parish, has 28 students in pre-K to fifth grade, and 16 in the infants and toddlers program.
After Tuesday's concrete hardens, workers will return to place wood chips under and around the area.
Lightfoot said she had hoped the project would have been done by the beginning of the school year, but the bidding process and other details took longer than expected.
She said funding for the project has come from current and former fundraising campaigns, as well as a donation from the St. Ambrose-Ironwood Catholic Alumni Association.
The equipment was purchased from Miracle Midwest of Okemos.
Angelo Luppino Construction has been working on the project with various volunteers, including parents of students, members of the church and Luther L. Wright High School JROTC members.
-Larry Holcombe
