Foundation funds new playground for Greenville

GREENVILLE — The Ellis L. Phillips Foundation of Boston recently announced that it approved a proposal from Little Schoolhouse Childcare for $20,000 to create a natural playscape for children adjacent to the future community building on the campus of the Greenville Consolidated School on Pritham Avenue.

Cynthia Phillips, a Foundation board director, said “The board was enthused and excited about this project.”

John Contreni, member of the YES Project Committee, and Eva Sawtelle, president and treasurer of Little Schoolhouse Childcare, wrote the grant proposal. 

The future natural playscape is inspired by concepts from Laura Newman’s guidebook “Quality Outdoor Play Environments: How Good Designs Integrate Nature and Loose Parts to Support Healthy Play and Development in Young Children”. It will include many natural areas using large boulders, hills created within the landscape with tunnels, and slides built into the playground. 

Trees and shrubs will serve as natural barriers and shade providers as well as learning opportunities. It will also include sail type shade units mounted to natural wood post beams. The playscape’s plan also incorporates some of Greenville’s history into the playground landscaping, for example using old tractor parts or old manhole covers inset into pathways. 

Contreni noted “It heartens me that the new playground will serve generations of children.”

The Phillips Foundation has been generous to the Greenville community, having previously supported the creation of the Crafts Landing and Park on the east cove of Moosehead Lake and the restoration of the 1889 Canadian Pacific Railway Depot in Greenville Junction.

Sawtelle said, “I’m very excited about this grant. I am looking forward to working with local contractors to bring this concept to reality!”