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New Playground in Niagara Falls

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Contributed by: Norma Higgs on 7/3/2008

On July 1, a ribbon cutting ceremony took place at the corner of North Avenue and Lockport Street officially opening the new Nor-Loc Playground.

It all began in 2006 when Candace Corsaro told her block club members she had a dream about revitalizing and reopening the playground in their area. This was once a popular spot for kids growing up in the north end of the city. There was baseball diamonds and playground equipment back in the 1950s and during hard financial times, the City was forced to close it.

I went with her to a Community Development Forum where she presented her plan, which included playground equipment for all children including those with disabilities. The presentation was successful and $40,000 was designated to begin the effort. We later discovered this funding was to be used exclusively for a basketball court at the location as the city felt a need for such a facility.

She was not deterred and began a fund raising effort on her own and secured donations from the Niagara Falls Firefighters Local 714 Union, the Kiwanis Club of Niagara Falls and Hon. Francine DelMonte of the New York State Assembly designated some member items for block clubs to help get this playground off the ground. Members of St. Paul's Lutheran Church also donated.

James Glynn and the Maid of the Mist Corporation have been very generous over the years with many donations to area hospitals, Niagara University and other charitable efforts. When he read about the plans to revitalize the playground where he spent many hours during his youth, he decided to "give back" to his old neighborhood and offered a very generous donation.

That was the catalyst and Candie's "dream" was starting to become a reality. The City Council adopted a resolution to match this private donation and Niagara University became a partner, with the offer of student participation as volunteer mentors and later secured a grant through the Hackett Foundation for handicap features.

The North End Block Club "swung into action". After many meetings about budgets,liability,and decisions on who was to do what, work began and when the equipment suppliers, Playworld, arrived on the scene in June of 2008 we knew it was really happening.

The rest is history and the pictures of the ribbon cutting ceremony tell the story better than I can. Please take the time to look at them. Click on each one for a larger version.

Another story follows with photos of everyone enjoying the playground at the opening day celebration.