Students, families, and community members gathered on May 13 to celebrate the opening of Tacoma’s new Larchmont Elementary schoolyard park.
The project, which went into construction last year, is part of the Tacoma Community Schoolyards Pilot Program, which upgraded several other schoolyards in the city. The program was launched to improve playgrounds that would then serve as a park after school hours to increase community access to green and recreational spaces. Other schools that received upgrades include Whitman, Mann, Helen B. Stafford, and Jennie Reed Elementary Schools, according to a news release.
“The Larchmont Community Schoolyard marks a significant milestone in increasing access to parks and enhancing outdoor spaces for learning, recreation, and community cohesion across Tacoma,” Sarneshea Evans, Northwest Parks for People program director for Trust for Public Land, said in the release. “The Tacoma Community Schoolyards Pilot Program has been a transformative project and we’re deeply grateful for the collaboration between partners and so proud to support access to the outdoors for our Tacoma community.”…