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Council approves Rotary-backed inclusive playground at the Commons; Rotary to fundraise
Summary
The finance committee voted to support the Rotary Club’s plan to fundraise and work with the recreation department to add an inclusive element to the Commons playground; the city will provide site oversight and preliminary engineering with DPW involvement.
The Rochester City Council finance committee on April 8 approved a motion supporting the Rotary Club’s proposal to fundraise for and construct an inclusive addition to the existing playground at the Commons.
Steve Campania, assistant director of Rochester Recreation and Arena, told the committee the Rotary Club is proposing a legacy fundraising project to add accessible/inclusive elements to an existing playground. Campania said the Rotary will lead fundraising and that the recreation department and the Department of Public Works will oversee site design and implementation. Campania said the project would be placed adjacent to the current playground and would avoid monuments and the bandstand.
Campania said the target fundraising goal discussed with Rotary and consulting vendor O’Brien & Sons is $500,000 and that the Rotary will attempt to keep the project within that threshold. He said the work would be an extension rather than a complete replacement of the existing playground.
A motion “to support the Rotary working with the Recreation Department to construct this all-inclusive playground at the Commons” was made, seconded, and approved by voice vote. The clerk recorded “ayes carry”; no roll-call vote count was provided in the meeting record.
The committee authorized staff to proceed with next steps including preliminary site engineering with O’Brien & Sons and further coordination with DPW; city funding was not requested and Campania said construction funding will come from Rotary fundraising and charitable gaming proceeds. The committee’s approval was a statement of support and authorization to move to engineering and fundraising activities, not an appropriation of city funds.
