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City of Harlan (2019) Print
2019 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Park enhancements
└ Park enhancements
Harlan library staff wanted to encourage families with children to explore Pioneer Park. To draw people in, they created a Story Walk. The library purchased twenty displays to house pages of a storybook, which they placed along the park's walking path. With their grandparents and parents by their side, kids enjoy running from sign to sign to reach the next part of the story. To keep the experience fresh, library employees swap out new stories seasonally.
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Estherville, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: To improve its recreation facilities, the City of Estherville asked residents for their ideas about how to improve local outdoor spaces. In response to this feedback, the City added special playground swings at the community's parks that are suitable for users of various skills, sizes and ages. The generation swings are two swings in one -- a combined adult swing and a swing for babies and toddlers. This enables children to swing face-to-face with their adult.
Tolland, CT
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: To give older adults in Tolland an outdoor space to gather and spend time, the Tolland Conservation Commission created a new park. The Commission worked with landscape architecture students at University of Connecticut to design Wanat Senior Park, a 13-acre area with accessible woodland trails, space for stargazing, a wheelchair-accessible meadow trail and meditative labyrinth. Engagement with older adults, including a design charrette and guided site tour, informed plans for the park. Volunteers of all ages planted vegetation and helped install hardscaping. The park features a pollinator garden, ADA-compliant benches and a variety of native plants. Public art -- including a sculpture of a heron and a sundial -- welcome visitors to the space.
Cloverdale, CA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2026
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: There will be multiple accessible benches added along the trail, as well as a bilingual walking program. The project will add places to rest and meet, while guided group walks will support safe movement and social connection.
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Avoca, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Public space activation
Description: Avoca's Main Street already had green space and places to sit, but Avoca Public Library organizers wanted to give residents a reason to spend time downtown. To invite people in, they installed oversized, weather-proof musical instruments outside the library. Since the instruments don't require any training or talent to play, they are popular with residents of all ages. Part of the town's creative placemaking plans, the new music park is located near the site of Avoca's weekly summer farmer's market. "It's a fun part of the town now," Avoca resident Sunshine Schoeller said.
Woodbine, IA
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Improved wayfinding
Description: To create a sense of place in the downtown Historic District, Woodbine Main Street designed and installed a dozen interpretive signs. The signs -- which volunteers placed on downtown buildings -- communicate historical facts, as well as local cultural context and human-interest stories. Project organizers say the placemaking initiative turns the district into an outdoor museum. Woodbine Main Street features the signage in its series of walking field trips -- part of the organization's efforts to improve walkability throughout Woodbine.
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