The shared playground at the Mandel Early Childhood Education Center (ECE) at the Shaw JCC of Akron and The Lippman School is set to receive a major facelift by spring of 2020 with generous funding provided by The Woll Family Foundation.

The impact of the Woll family’s philanthropy can be seen and felt throughout the Schultz Campus for Jewish Life. In 2015, Alan and Janice helped make the Shaw JCC indoor pool renovation a reality, and in 2017, they transformed The Lippman School’s library into an innovation center filled with cutting-edge technologies for students and the community alike.

Now, the Woll family desires to provide an interactive and developmentally sound outdoor play space for ECE and Lippman children to use now and enjoy for years to come.

The renovations are long overdue with the playground getting its last update 15 years ago.

Children will have a variety of new options on the playground, many that will allow them to use their imaginations and provide new experiences in music, math, science and social/emotional interactions, physical, and social play and enhance their bond with nature.

The current structures will receive a facelift along with the addition of a large play unit with a crawl tunnel, climbing ramp, and balance beam. A smaller version of this unit will be added for infants and toddlers. Both of these new structures will be placed on rubber surfacing.

Freestanding elements such as a playhouse/market garden, art panels, covered sandbox, music wall with instruments, and water play station are welcome new additions. Six trees will be planted in this renovated space, and two shade structures will be installed.

The original plan was to start the project in September 2019 and implement in three phases concluding in the spring of 2021, but school organizers hope to move the project along and get it completed in the spring of 2020.