New day for old playground
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The playground at Fair OaksPark, located in the middle of DallasCounty’s most densely populated neighborhood, has sat mostly quiet the last few years. The playground fell into disrepair, and rusty, old playground equipment was hauled away long ago.Then the PHorum, a philanthropic organization with the Texas Health Presbyterian Foundation and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, stepped in. The group, which funds improvement projects for the low-income Vickery Meadows neighborhood, saw a new Fair Oaks playground as a way to help the community.So the group got with the community outreach program at Texas Health Dallas and worked to make the playground dream a reality.“It just didn’t make sense that in the middle of all these apartment complexes there was basically nowhere for toddlers to safely play,” said Elsa Phelan, director of community outreach at Texas Health Dallas. “As soon as we started looking at the situation, it became very evident that a new playground would do wonders for local children.”PHorum members, the Texas Health Presbyterian Foundation, and leaders from Texas Health Dallas and the local community recently celebrated the opening of the public playground — the only outdoor recreation area in Vickery Meadows. The area, located southeast of the Texas Health Dallas campus, is one of most densely populated neighborhoods in North Texas. More than 35,000 residents live in a 2.6-square-mile radius.The new play structures are for young children and are designed to help them develop gross motor skills and get kids outside and active. The playground will provide children from 2 to 12 years of age with a place to play outside instead of having to play in apartment parking lots or tiny plots of green space near busy streets, Phelan said.“Vickery Meadows has a higher than average rate of childhood obesity, in part because children have nowhere to go outside and run and play,” she said. “We hope this playground will be a place kids can have fun and be active.”Doug Hawthorne, CEO of Texas Health Resources, the parent organization of Texas Health Dallas, was in attendance along with District 13 council members Ann Margolin; Frank Nuchereno, chairman of the Vickery Meadow Improvement Corporation; Dave Strueber with the City of Dallas Parks and Recreation Department; and Greg Johnson, of The PHorum.
