Community Corner

Mom Starts Fundraiser to Rebuild Broadneck Playground

A fundraiser for Broadneck Park's playground is underway.

Orange netting and plywood cover the entrance to a bridge at the playground in . It's just one area of disrepair at the park that's still frequented daily by families.

Broadneck-area mom Kara McGuirk-Allison said Broadneck Park is still a vital community gathering place, but the playground appears to be "broken." 

When McGuirk-Allison first tried to get repairs done at the county-owned park, she was told that the county's hands were tied. They couldn't do repairs to the playground partly because the budget is tight, but also because the company that originally built the playground had gone under years ago.

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The parts needed to repair the playground could only be taken from another park. That solution didn't exactly sit well with McGuirk-Allison.

"It was basically broken and was going to sit there and rot," she said.

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So McGuirk-Allison decided to take matters into her own hands. She's created the Friends of Broadneck Park, a neighborhood group dedicated to restoring the playground and park to its former glory.

The group operates under the umbrella of Broadneck Area Youth Sports (BAYS), and will begin a series of fundraisers in the coming months. She said they hope to raise between $35,000 and $50,000 in order to do the work.

"We hope to get corporate sponsorships from Broadneck businesses. We'll do things like bricks with corporate names, and logos, but in a very tactful way that would fit in with the scenery and the park," McGuirk-Allison said. "We're going to try to keep everything as local as possible."

The full scope of the project will depend on the amount of donations received. McGuirk-Allison said she would also like to make structural improvements to the park area. When it rains, she noted that rainwater pools up and creates a breeding ground for mosquitoes. That would be one of the first things to be addressed should enough money be raised, she said.

Ultimately, the work will be paid for by the members of the Broadneck community and gifted to the county, who owns the property. McGuirk-Allison said she hopes to be able to keep the Friends of Broadneck Park around as a community group to help upkeep the park, and ensure it doesn't fall into disrepair again.

If you're interested in helping to restore the park, McGuirk-Allison said the best place to start right now is visiting and "liking" their Facebook page.


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