Group builds playground in one day

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DENVER - Abdikadir Osaman stood on a hill of mulch with his friends, not believing what he was seeing: a group of 200 volunteers building a playground in his neighborhood.

"I thought I was dreaming, but I wasn't," he said.

The volunteers were building a playground designed by kids who live near Westwood Park, at the corner of South Knox Court and West Kentucky Avenue in Southwest Denver.

The project was the idea of a nonprofit organization called KaBOOM! Founded 14 years ago, its mission is to make it easy for kids to play - no matter where they live.

"KaBOOM!'s main mission is to have a safe place to play within walking distance of every child in America," Project Manager Adam Arata said.

The organization builds more than 200 playgrounds a year across the country. The recent project in Denver is the 1,650th playground built by volunteers.

"A playground like this would cost tens of thousands of dollars," said Arata.

But KaBOOM! builds the playgrounds for free.

The Westwood Park project was sponsored by Mutual of Omaha.

"I couldn't think of a more deserving neighborhood," said District 3 City Councilman Paul D. López. "Hopefully we can turn it around and build a brand new playground that the community can enjoy."

The new playground includes slides, a rock wall, swings and lots of other fun structures for kids.

It took less than six hours to complete the project. Before construction was even done Abdikadir knew the new playground was an improvement over the old one.

"It wasn't cool enough," he said, "...but the new one, it looks cool!"

Residents of the neighborhood receiving the playground are responsible for gathering volunteers and helping organize things.

If you would like KaBOOM! to build a playground in your neighborhood, fill out an application at the organization's Web site: www.kaboom.org.