Rotary Club Seeking Donors for New Playground Equipment at Rotary Riverside Park

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A new ADA-approved playground is scheduled to be built at Rotary Riverside Park this September and the Centralia Rotary Club is seeking $60,000 from donors that will be matched two-to-one by the club.

The total cost of the playground is currently at $105,000, and the club is hoping that by receiving $60,000 from donors, on top of the matching $60,000 from the club, that the extra $15,000 will help cover any unforeseen costs.

“We have some ideas for some larger donors,” said Lance Fletcher, president of the Centralia Rotary Club Project Foundation. “If we don’t get a full $60,000, we’ll certainly make anybody’s personal donations available in the matching fund, too.”

The playground will be built in an open patch of grass directly to the right of the restrooms.

Fletcher said he’s excited the playground, aimed for ages 2-12, is ADA-approved and will allow children in wheelchairs to enjoy the new equipment.

“We’re not going to exclude anyone that’s not 2-12, but there’s not a lot of things currently here that are going to help somebody in a wheelchair get on it,” Fletcher said. “So this is something new that we’re going to be excited about. We want to get it done right.”

The playground equipment has been ordered and is currently on schedule to be installed at the park in September in conjunction with the Rotary club’s 100-year anniversary. The club plans to have a celebration event when the playground is first open for use. The 100-year celebration was initially planned for July, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.



The club is also a partner in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, a program that promotes children literacy in Lewis County, and plans to have a sign-up booth at the celebration event.

The Centralia College welding department has also built three 1,000-pound metal signs made to look like Rotary wheels that will be placed at the park, as well.

The Centralia Rotary Club has a long history of facilities development at the Rotary Riverside Park. Sam Agnew donated 4.3 acres to the Rotary club in 1923. In 1983, the rotary club deeded the acreage to the City of Centralia with an agreement to build a future park that would be maintained by the city.

Over the years the rotary club has added playground equipment, improved shelters and helped add nature trails, among other park improvements. Fletcher hopes this new playground is just one of many more additions added to the park in the future.

“We want to keep expanding and finding new things we can do,” Fletcher said. “We’re looking forward to new things and new facilities happening in the future.”

Donations can be made to the Centralia Rotary Project Foundation, a 401(c) 3 organization, and sent to P.O. Box 183, Centralia, WA, 98531. For more information, contact the Lance Fletcher at 360-304-0200, or by email at lancenlinda@gmail.com