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St. Pete Receives Playground Grant, Youth Accolades

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By STEVEN GIRARDI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - The city's commitment to building neighborhood parks has won it a $70,000 grant for a new playground in Childs Park, Mayor Rick Baker said today.

The grant was among three awards the city received Monday at the America's Promise Alliance National Forum on Youth in Washington, D.C.

The alliance, founded by former Secretary of State Colin Powell, included St. Petersburg in its 100 Best Communities for Young People for the third year in a row, and the city was named one of 67 Playful City USA communities.

"We focus our efforts on the quality of life of the people who live in our city, and there are no more important people in our city than the children," said Baker, who went to Washington to receive the awards.

The mayor made the announcement at Lakewood Elementary School with about 20 fourth-graders lined up in front of him and the playground behind him.

The playground is a joint effort between the city and the Pinellas school board, an example of the creative ways the city is finding to reach its goal of having a park within a half-mile of every resident, Baker said.

The city has built eight parks on school campuses and is within 80 percent of its goal for neighborhood parks, the mayor said.

St. Petersburg was the only city to receive the Community Build grant, funded by Kool-Aid. The park will be designed with the help of children and built with the help of residents.

The city's application included the Mayor's Mentors & More program, which has raised more than $11 million in donations for schools and scholarships for needy children and provided training for more than 1,000 mentors to help children.

Reporter Steven Girardi may be reached at (727) 451-2333.

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