2024 Natural Playscape Grant

For the second year, the RNeighborWoods team is offering a different outdoor park experience for a winning neighborhood: a natural playscape! The 2023 winner was the Elton Hills neighborhood, the logs placed at Allendale Park.

Our partners at the Park and Rec Forestry Department have created Lincoln Log-style beams that can be stacked together in a natural play area, fun for all ages to climb and sit on. The logs come from local Rochester trees that must be removed for various reasons. The creation of this playscape is just one of the ways the city uses wood debris from forestry operations. Utilizing wood in creative ways such as this prevents the city from having to pay to have the debris delivered to local brush dumps where it is burned, causing the immediate release of carbon into the atmosphere. This wood beam play area is a green way to recycle a natural product while at the same time creating an engaging play area for your neighborhood.

This natural playscape was initially assembled and used for the city’s Arbor Day celebration. Afterward, it will be available to the grant-winning neighborhood. The beams will stay at that park for ten months until the next grant cycle, June-April. The playscape will be updated, utilized for Arbor Day, and awarded to a new neighborhood park for ten months. 

Applications can be completed online and accepted through April 20 at 3 pm.

The Park and Recreation Forestry Department delivers and removes the playscape logs. As kids enjoy the equipment, the logs will naturally break down. 

Have a comment? Join us on Facebook!