A Carousel for Missoula
Dragon Hollow
Even before the Carousel opened in 1995, Ponykeepers and crew members were asking, “What can we do next?” Many had already decided the Carousel needed a playarea. Not just any playarea, but a playarea befitting the neighborhood. Considering the closest neighbor is A Carousel for Missoula, that was a tall order to fill.
After several failed attempts at designing just the right playarea, the Carousel board finally hit upon the solution of asking experts to assist with the process. The very best playarea design experts are, of course, children. In addition to the children, however, we needed someone with experience in helping kids turn ideas into reality.
A call to Leathers & Associates, Inc. in Ithaca, NY, brought Robert Leathers, founder of the company, to Missoula in September of 2000. Leathers and Associates, Inc., has facilitated the construction of over 1,600 community-built playareas all over the world.
While all Leather’s projects have a common look, each is unique. Bob visited area schools to find out what Missoula kids wanted in their playarea. The lists were long, but several themes were common in all the classes visited. Kids wanted a dragon--better yet, a dragon with three heads! Kids wanted a the dragon to have internal organs--like a stomach on which they could bounce. Kids wanted slides--if one was 25’ high and made two complete circles before hitting the ground, so much the better. Kids wanted an obstacle course--climbing, jumping, bouncing, a variety of activities. Kids wanted a special area for smaller children--who wants to watch out for tots when you’re taming a dragon? Kids wanted telephones--if you get lost in the maze, you gotta have a way to call mom.
After assigning tasks to adults who had volunteered to organize construction of the playarea, Bob returned to New York. The committee members understood we would be gathering everything necessary to build a playarea in just five days.
The committee began organizing materials (some were purchased, others were donated), tools (takes a lot of tools to build a dragon), food (why not feed everyone who volunteers to help?), child care (and let’s take care of their kids, too), transportation (parking can be a problem in downtown Missoula), publicity (hear ye, hear ye), kids (they’d done a great job so far, let’s keep them involved), and a million other items. When another Leather’s representative came in February to see how the organization was coming, the committee was ready for expanded assignments.
Plans for the playarea were continually revised. The designers were impressed with the craftsmanship of the Carousel, and saw the opportunity to use the talents and skills of those who had participated in that project. The dragon’s faces were suddenly more complex and special touches more numerous. The Arts & Design committee found a myriad of ways to involve area children, and ended up carrying nearly a thousand bricks and pavers to schools for children to decorate with mosaic stones and jewels. Those bricks and paver became benches near the party pavilion. Other children painted pieces of Trex, a plastic wood used extensively in the playarea. The squares were assembled into colorful quilts throughout the playarea.
With the increased amount of detail emerging in the plans, the ‘build’ period was expanded from five days to six, with a three day ‘pre-build’ to happen three weeks before the main build. All committees had more work to do to find more materials, more tools, more volunteers, more food, more child care, more everything!
A picket line was formed to give donors the opportunity to have a picket in the fence surrounding the playarea engraved with a name or saying. With nearly 1,000 pickets available, this was almost a full-time job, but at $50 each, the picket sales were a large part of the donations gathered for the project. In addition to the pickets, several other items, such as slides, dragon heads, body parts (including the stomach), and benches were sponsored by individuals, families, groups and businesses.
A unique-to-Missoula project to raise public awareness was the recycling of used grocery bags, one of the materials used in Trex. One volunteer went to local stores once (or twice) a week to collect bags from specially decorated boxes. While the project received no funds from the recycling of the bags, this very ‘green’ community was drawn to the push for recycling and pleased to know recycled materials would be used in the playarea.
In April, a two member crew from Leathers appeared in Missoula. Following a festive and relaxing dinner the evening of their arrival, volunteers went to work bright and early the next day. That first day, over 150 holes were drilled into the small area set aside for the playarea. Despite hitting an electrical line, a fiber-optic cable, a water line and a (small) gas line, at the end of the day the drilling was complete. Over the next two days posts were set into those holes and the enclosed structure which would become the dragon’s body began to take shape.
Some volunteers had agreed to give a four-hour shift to help with the project. A few of those--mostly highly talented builders--came back shift after shift, day after day for the entire pre-build and build. The satisfaction and excitement of building Dragon Hollow was irresistible!
When the Leather’s team left on Monday morning, the committee regrouped and realized there was a lot of work yet to be done. While we managed the 75-people-at-a-time groups of volunteers needed for the prebuild, we knew we weren’t ready for the 150 to 300 volunteers at a time we’d have for the main construction period.
By the time a three-member Leathers crew arrived in May, though, everything was as ready as it would ever be. It didn’t always go smoothly, but work began at 7 a.m. each day and didn’t end until dark. For every minute of each day, the playarea and staging area were filled with volunteers.
By 6 p.m. on May 21, 2001, Dragon Hollow was ‘substantially complete’ and the crowds rolled in to play. More than 4,000 volunteers, including nearly 1,000 children and several high school classes, had participated in the construction of the playarea. Local residents and businesses had again supported a project for ‘our kids.’ Once again, Missoula had created magic in Caras Park, and has built a neighbor worthy of the Carousel.
Work continues on the playarea, but to watch the children play, no one would ever know Dragon Hollow was not absolutely perfect. By May of 2002, all the finishing touches were completed and the dragon’s home was done.
Dragon Hollow Timeline
Sept. 21, 2000 Design Day
Robert Leathers, founder and president of Leathers & Associates, Inc., of Ithaca, NY, works with Missoula-area children to design their concept of the ‘perfect playarea.’
Feb. 20, 2001 Organization Day
Mike Thomas, of Leathers & Associates, meets with Dragon Hollow organizers to check on progress. Mike assigns more tasks, adds more tools, warns us about what we’d gotten ourselves into, and leaves us with more than a small sense of urgency about all that remains to be done.
April 27-29 Pre-build
Mike Thomas returns with Dan Schumann, lead designer of Dragon Hollow, to begin the construction process. Holes are drilled, posts are set and construction is started on the enclosed structure which will become the dragon’s body. Over 500 volunteers participate in the pre-build.
May 15-20 Build
Mike and Dan return and bring with them Sarah Highland, another Leathers consultant. Mike, Dan and Sarah direct more than 3,500 volunteers in a six day push to complete Dragon Hollow. Work begins at dawn each day, and no day ends until well after sunset.