LETTER: Thanks for help making dreams come true at Lawrence Park
“A Park of Dreams... build it and they will come” is a reference proven true when speaking of Lawrence Park.
Approximately 22 years ago, the front of the park was a river bottom-land of brush, trees and piles of discarded Christmas trees with a dirt road leading to the back-park playground. The Friends of Lawrence Park has spent years meeting with the city park director and staff designing a playground, pavilion, Frisbee course and horseshoe games along with bathrooms, walking paths and a connecting bridge to entertain the east-north neighborhood and community.
The park has become so popular that the community-built playground needed to be replaced for safety reasons and to meet new playground standards.
Because limited park funding is always in demand, the Friends have donated over $100,000 for improvements to help supplement the city. Recently, we applied for a grant from the Flathead Electric Round Up for Safety program and were generously granted $5,000. We wish to thank them publicly for this wonderful gift to the community. We also want to acknowledge Flathead Electric customers who have agreed to round up their payments, for this is the source of funding the company gives back to the community in the form of worthy grants.
An anonymous donor gave a much appreciated gift of $2,500 towards a swing set with a baby swing seat and the Friends have purchased spring-rocking horses, a horizontal climbing ladder to develop upper-body strength, and dog litter-bag stations with disposal bins.
The city has been able to put in new playground equipment for our children, fresh wood chips and extend the boundary of the play area. There is now a clean, safe and stimulating playground equipped for tots, pre-schoolers and intermediate age children.
Nearly 30 years ago, the park was being considered for extension of the golf course. Wayne Herman discovered this and called a group of concerned people together and formed the Friends of Lawrence Park, so a public thank you to him! The group felt the land would be best used as a city park. We would also like to thank our present and previous city-parks director and staff for the wonderful work they have accomplished and also the Kalispell Police Association for their generous donation of paying the shipping cost of over $500 for the new equipment.
Friends of Lawrence Park has a 501(c)3 designation; therefore all donations are tax-deductible and community appreciated! It takes a community to build a park of dreams, and that has truly been accomplished at Lawrence Park! —Arla Culver and Dave Downey, Kalispell, Friends of Lawrence Park