Expand the Orange Community Center Playground

As a parent within the town of Orange, I am leading an initiative to fundraise for an addition to the current playscape structure at the High Plains Community Center on Orange Center Rd.

The Orange Community Nursery School (OCNS) leases the classroom and outdoor space from the town of Orange. OCNS is a 501c3 nonprofit. The playground is closed to the public during school hours, but is a busy and active community playground when OCNS is not in session.

The playground is owned and operated by the Town of Orange. The town is aware of my fundraising attempts to enhance the playground and in February 2025, the Board of Selectmen and the Board of Finance agreed to allocate some funds toward this project.

The previous play structure was removed in September 2023 due to wear and tear, irreparable damage, and safety issues. We are grateful for the new structure the town has installed in the Spring of 2024. However, it is a smaller structure, does not accommodate the same number of children, and has less active features.

As a parent volunteer, I have applied for a number of local and national grants hoping to receive money that can be directly applied to the purchase and installation of an additional structure.

This enhancement will be ordered through Ben Schaffer Recreation and the play structure will be a Burke Product.

These structures are incredibly expensive due to the need for safety and accessibility, materials used, delivery and labor installation.

As a volunteer of OCNS as well as parent to 3 young children in Orange who utilize this playground space regularly, I set up this page asking for any contributions the community of Orange as well as the surrounding areas could provide. I am incredibly appreciative to the financial support we have been receiving and I am proud to share we are very close to our goal to order a structure that can be enjoyed by the children this spring.

If you are a business and prefer to write and send a check for tax purposes, it can be mailed directly to the school at 525 Orange Center Rd.

I am happy to answer any questions or hear any thoughts!

I am hopeful we can come together as a community to help make the highly trafficked Community Center playground a fun and safe play space as it was for so many years.