Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
A LARGE crowd of people gather on July 20 to celebrate the dedication ceremony of a new playground at Hiawatha Park in Ironwood.
By DAMIIAN LANG
Ironwood - In June 1964, a 52-foot statue of Hiawatha was erected at the site of the Old Norrie Iron Mine. A teeter-totter and swings helped to create an adjacent park.
Present that day in 1964 was Miss Hiawatha, Renee Semi Hartz.
Fast forward to last weekend when Hartz was back again on Saturday at the site of Hiawatha, with family, friends and many others who have contributed energy and funds for a brand new playground adjacent to the statue.
It was time for the dedication ceremony.
"The impetus of this project was an idea from Dr. Renee Semo Hartz," said Ironwood city manager Paul Anderson as he addressed the crowd. "She had the idea to build this beautiful playground equipment in a neighborhood that was severely underserved for a playground set. She started the fundraising effort by pledging $50,000 to the project and challenged the city staff to find ways to raise additional funds for the remainder of the project."
Tom Bergman, the city's community development director, and his assistant, Tim Erickson, found a grant program through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
The program makes $50,000 available to communities if $50,000 more can be raised by other donors.
Donating anywhere from $10,000 to under $500, more than 100 donors came through to make the playground a reality.
The new, modern playground is beautiful, and volunteers also painted and re-seated the original teeter-totter and swings.
In addition to the playground, the family of Renee and Rick Semo of Ironwood donated additional funds to install a new picnic table and commemorative bench.
A cute book library donated by the Gogebic Ontonagon Counties Great Start Collaborative also stands nearby.
The Ironwood Department of Public Works staff graded the playground site and laid down wood chips. Volunteers cleared brush by the ore cars and cleaned up the sidewalk along Burma Road. Community members have even donated balls and numerous pieces of play equipment across the street for kids to use at Jack Randa Memorial Field. There are also new trash and recycling containers.
The amount of passion, dedication, and care that has been put into the Hiawatha playground is impressive.
"I'd like to thank Doug Smith at Penchura Play for supplying the playground equipment," said Anderson. "It's nice to know that, after working so hard to raise funds for projects like this, that it will last for decades to come."
According to city officials, reinvesting in and improving existing parks has been identified as being a high priority versus the addition of new parks and trails. This project accomplished that.
