During the week of October 13-18, 1993, hundreds of Harrodsburg and Mercer County volunteers came together to build a creative wooden playground at Youngs Park, behind the shelter house. It was one of the largest group of volunteers since the planning of Harrodsburg's bicentennial in 1974.
Advocate-Messenger - October 17, 1993
Photo by Keith Rightmyer
However, the Harrodsburg community was in an uproar on Wednesday afternoon when it was announced in The Harrodsburg Herald that the creative playground at Youngs Park had been condemned as hazardous and slated to be removed. Unbeknownst to most people, the demolition had already started. All the photos on this page were taken at approximately 4:00 pm on Wednesday afternoon, August 4, by my husband, Keith Rightmyer.
Photo by Keith Rightmyer
In 1993, a Burgin Elementary School student, Trevaesa Lyles, won the Youngs Park Creative Playground logo contest. Trevaesa's design was printed on tee-shirts and the Anna Bohon Eliott Woman's Club sold the shirts as a fundraiser for the playground.
Photo by Keith Rightmyer
In January 1993, Harrodsburg City Commissioners agreed to pay $80,000 for a new playground at Youngs Park. The city had $39,000 on hand for the project and put the remainder of the total price in the 1993-94 budget.
Photo by Keith Rightmyer
Photo by Keith Rightmyer
The 1990 Harrodsburg census showed 3,606 children under the age of 12 in Mercer County, with 1,332 being from Harrodsburg.
Photo by Keith Rightmyer
Kathy Dedman, a member of the Woman's Club, said the construction of the playground was a community effort with many volunteers. These volunteers allowed Harrodsburg to have a $170,000 playground for almost half the price.
Photo by Keith Rightmyer
During the final push to complete the playground and open it up to the community, hundreds of volunteers worked the last weekend in the rain in order to finish.
Photo by Keith Rightmyer
The current mayor of Harrodsburg, Billy Whittaker, and the city commissioners have plans to raise/allocate funds to replace the beloved playground. The new playground will be safer for the children of the community.
Photo by Keith Rightmyer
Youngs Park is located on Linden Avenue and is a small portion of the old Graham Springs property. In 1887, a portion of
the old Graham Springs property was auctioned for $19,001 to Edgar H. Gaither.
Mr. Gaither represented a Louisville syndicate, who in turn donated some of the
land to the city of Harrodsburg for the development of Youngs Park.
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