OMPC and La Quemada in the B'ham News

By: ANNE RUISI

Birmingham News staff writer

Vivid reds, blues and lime green are the accent colors, but it's the smiles of the children playing that brighten the new playground near the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.

"It's got a lot of slides. I like slides," said 7-year-old Melanie Rodriguez of the playground on 17th Avenue designed and built by volunteers from Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church.

"It goes fast," added her friend, Maricela Javarrete, 8.

It's the first time the girls and their friends have had such a playground in this cramped, mostly Hispanic pocket of Woodlawn. Most of the homes, bland cinderblock buildings fronting alley-sized streets, have tiny yards that limit play.

The church is a familiar presence in the neighborhood, having sponsored children's activities there for about four years, said the Rev. Mark Hunter, the church's associate pastor. Its minister to the Hispanic community, Octavio Samper and his wife, Rosie, have a children's Bible Club. One Saturday a month, about 30 youngsters are brought to the Shelby County church for soccer games and a cookout.

Usually the church organizes an annual overseas mission trip, but with the shaky economy, members decided this year to do a project in town and chose to build the playground, Hunter said.

Church member David K. Eyrich, a landscape architect with Environmental Design Studio in Cahaba Heights, designed the playground and led the project. About 40 volunteers, including some families, built the playground the week of June 8-13, Hunter said. Each adult donated $250 to participate.

Before they started work, Tractor & Equipment Co., a neighboring business, graded the site and prepared it for construction. The company also let the church store playground construction materials on its site.

The playground is more of a mini-park, with separate areas for activities, such as the centerpiece tower with climbing equipment and four slides. A construction company donated two tractor tires, 6½-feet wide, which were partially buried upright. One tire acts as a short tunnel for walking through and the other has more tread so the kids can climb up it, Eyrich said.

Old utility poles were used to build an arbor with its own wooden porch swing under a black cherry tree. Residents such as Maribel Calderon enjoy the shady swing while they watch their youngsters play.

"It's good, very good," she said through an interpreter.

Some of the utility poles were cut into short lengths, then painted in bright colors and set into the ground. They're used for sitting, or as Melanie and Maricela demonstrated, to hop from one to another.

The neighborhood's children got to put their own stamp on the playground by the decorating large wood cutouts of hearts and flowers placed on the fence that rings the site. They autographed and painted their palm prints on the cutouts, so everyone can see that Alex T., Melanye and Tito are among the kids playing here.

About $12,000 was spent on materials, but the group would have easily spent a minimum of $35,000-$40,000 if they'd hired paid labor, Eyrich said.

"It was a lot of work for do-it-yourselfers," he said.

The playground site is owned by Myrtis Herring, who lives next door. Lawyer Greg Mixon, a church member, worked out a lease agreement for $10 a year, Hunter said.

Until she became disabled in recent years, Herring used to take neighborhood children to Crestway Baptist Church for activities, said her daughter, Deborah Herring. Her mother knows the Oak Mountain Presbyterian group, since she's allowed them to use the site for its program for Hispanic youngsters.

"My mom was happy to let them do this," Herring's daughter said.