Leesburg commissioners gave their blessing Monday night for City Manager Al Minner to spend close to $29,000 to have a donated wheelchair swing installed at Rogers Park.
The money will pay for a safety surface pad that will be poured underneath the $3,000 swing. The safety pad is recommended by the swing’s manufacturer, according to a memo from Purchasing Manager Mike Thornton.
The city originally sought bids from local contractors for the pad and installation of the swing, but none expressed interest. So, the city reached out to resellers of playground equipment for potential installation companies. Two bids followed, one for $28,717.46 from Play Space Services Inc. and another for $11,905.50 from Precision Playgrounds Holdings Inc., which didn’t include the recommended safety service.
The city originally took possession of the swing in March after a fundraising effort spearheaded by Mark Stapleton, owner of 441 Thrift Store. He said he had read about a similar swing on Facebook that was installed in a West Coast city and the more he thought about it, he believed Leesburg should have one, too.
“It’s going to be tremendous,” Stapleton said. “There is a large segment of handicapped children in wheelchairs that are unseen. There’s nothing for them to do, so you don’t see them.
“Now, they’re to be able to go to Rogers Park at Venetian Gardens to a birthday party under the pavilions. The other kids run off to get on the swings, they can join in and play, too.”
Stapleton initially kicked off the fundraising drive at his store and before long, he found out that another local business, Bill Bryan Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, was interested in helping the effort. That prompted Saleena Chanan-Faulkner, internet sales manager for the Fruitland Park-based dealership, to pay a visit to the thrift store with a donation of $500.
“We want to let customers see that we are donating back to the community,” Chanan-Faulkner said.
Chanan-Faulkner added that dealership was excited to play a role in bringing the unique swing to Rogers Park, which is located at 610 S 9th Street.
“It’s local to us so we know for a fact people are going to appreciate it when they see it,” she said. “We see it as a plus and a gain with customers and just a gain with knowing that we did something good at the end of the day.”
Stapleton said he was thrilled to receive the large donation.
“It is tremendous to have another business step up and want to care about the kids,” said Stapleton, who also was in the news last December when he and his wife, Debbie, scrambled to gather Christmas gifts and furniture for a Leesburg family that lost their home to a fire.
