Aurora hosts Sunflower Housing Community playground grand opening

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Javier Alvarez
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Aurora Military Housing is scheduled to host a luncheon to celebrate the renovation of the playground at the Sunflower Housing Community, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday June 16.

The event would have marked the grand opening of the pirate-and-castle-themed playground, but due to early completion by Alaska Playground Specialists, it will now serve as a way to celebrate the build, said Rachael Hodgson, Aurora Military Housing general manager.

"We don't want to stop the kids and families from utilizing the park," she said.

Anyone with JBER access is welcome to attend the event, where hot dogs, cookies, chips, juice and water will be provided by Aurora, Hodgson said.

At the event attendees can participate in arts and crafts highlighting multiple activities in the Aurora Summer Challenge catalogue, she said.

Attendees are also encouraged to dress as pirates, Hodgson said. Various prizes will be given to participants in the day's activities, including one for best-dressed pirate.

The renovations to the almost 100-square-foot playground come as a means to improve safety and to meet demand.

The playground serves as a meeting point where neighborhood kids can play safely, said Chris Anderson, Aurora Military Housing tenant manager.

Community kids can live out their wildest dreams at Sunflower Park.

A pirate ship and castle are the two main play structures at the park; an alligator and horse are among the surrounding play features which further set the scene.

Two mini rock walls and slides add to the playground features.

The opening of the Sunflower park will mark the first in a series of renovations to Aurora parks in 2016 with a ribbon-cutting in the Denali community park scheduled for July.

"We hope to do something different with every build," Hodgson explained.

The age of the cookie-cutter playground is going by the wayside on JBER. The Aurora staff hopes to build playgrounds throughout JBER, each with a specific theme to encourage park goers to visit the different parks.

"Our hope is that folks will take the time to visit all the different parks," Hodgson said. "If there is a different theme in each area there'll be an interest to [explore] JBER."

The playground is not just for people living on JBER, Hodgson said. "There are more service members than we have homes on the installation," she said. "We would love to help and house them all, but we can't. Just because they don't live on JBER doesn't mean they can't enjoy what JBER has to offer."

Aurora staff also see the parks as a way to build community. "If folks are willing to play together they are also willing to work together," Hodgson said. "We are excited about the new playgrounds. If we can make living on JBER a better experience for everyone, it's a good thing."