SEGUIN, Texas — The City of Seguin has been selected as one of three cities across the U.S. to receive the $75,000 Perk Your Park Grant from Niagara Bottling.
Earlier this year, Seguin applied for the grant through the National Recreation Park Association (NRPA) and was chosen as one of the nine semifinalist to win it. Niagara Bottling based the three winners off of the results of a public vote which began on Aug. 7 and with less than two weeks left in the voting, Seguin was in first place in the voting.
This past spring, the City had to remove their Kids Kingdom playground at Max Starcke Park, which included four play features for kids with disabilities, due to safety concerns. Now that Seguin has earned this grant, they plan on rebuilding the all-inclusive playground for every kid to enjoy.
"Seguin may be small, but when our community comes together, we are very mighty," said City of Seguin Public Information Officer Jennifer Sourdellia. "I am so incredibly proud and thankful to everyone who participated. Because of them, the City has additional funding to help us build a brand new playground for kids of all physical abilities to enjoy."
The original playground was built on the back of fundraising by the City back in 1995, and the City's Parks and Recreation Director Jack Jones is proud of the commitment by the townspeople to ensure this playground stayed around for the children of Seguin.
"Similar to when the Seguin community came together to fundraise and build the Kids Kingdom Playscape in 1995, the community rose to the occasion again to be awarded the grant from Niagara Bottling. This grant will help us to rebuild the playscape," said Jones.
The other two cities that earned this grant were Douglasville, Georgia, to improve Fowler Field Park and La Verne, California, to improve Las Flores Park.