Painesville Students Choose New Swing Set for South State Street Park
Lake County General Health District (LCGHD) and the City of Painesville are pleased to announce a new, inclusive swing set has been installed at South State Street Park located at 384 South State Street in Painesville. This installation is the culmination of a two-year project funded by the Ohio Department of Health as part of its Capacity Building for Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) program.
In 2023, LCGHD conducted a Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change Assessment and targeted community resident interviews in Painesville around the areas of healthy eating and active living. Through those assessments, Painesville residents voiced their wishes for several types of amenities in their neighborhood parks, and the addition of swings at South State Street Park was suggested time and again. Staff from Painesville’s Public Lands & Recreation Department solicited quotes from several vendors and in March 2024, students from Maple Elementary and the Salvation’s Army’s Learning Zone used a dot-voting method to select which structure would be installed. The structure from the students is from Playground Equipment Services (PES), and includes two belt swings, one bird’s next swing, and one inclusive swing.
“Before our voting, we talked about what types of swing set the students would want. Many of them shared that they wanted something everyone could enjoy, so it was great to see them overwhelmingly select a structure that has a type of swing for everyone,” said LCGHD Population Health Coordinator Christine Margalis.
“Swings at South State Street park were a frequent request, so when LCGHD approached us with the funding opportunity, we were more than willing to work with them to make this happen,” said Michelle LaPuma, Public Lands and Recreation Director for the City of Painesville. “Our neighborhood parks, most of which are the former elementary school properties, are unique in that they are within walking distance for many local families but do not have parking lots like your traditional larger city parks. The majority of visitors are either walking or biking. South State Street is an example of one of our neighborhood parks that is highly used by that neighborhood but lacked the amenities outside of a playground. This addition is a great way to let kids play and be active close to home.”
The purpose of the HEAL program is to provide funding for community assessment and engagement with local community residents while working toward sustainability and expansion of these efforts within the county or jurisdiction. LCGHD will continue to work with residents and communities to improve policies, systems and environments through the Creating Healthy Communities program. For more information on the Capacity Building for Healthy Eating and Active Living project or the Creating Healthy Communities program, please contact Christine Margalis, 440-350-2879 or [email protected].
