A chance reading of a magazine article about a special-needs baseball field in Georgia led to the Butler AM Rotary Club's construction of a $500,000 special needs playground at Alameda Park.

With the $750,000 Rotary project in Georgia as inspiration, Rotarian Richard Musko approached the other members of the AM Rotary club about a local project. Estimated to cost half-a-million dollars, the special needs playground Musko envisioned represented a huge challenge. But Rotary, Musko says, "is about doing things bigger than anyone else does."

Though the final $40,000 remains to be raised, the playground project that began in early 2002 was recently completed. The official ribbon cutting and a picnic reception took place on Saturday.

Like other service club efforts, this project, spearheaded by Rotary, would not have been possible without many volunteers, in-kind contributions from area businesses and financial gifts from the community.

The colorful playground, with a wheelchair-accessible maze, slides, tubes and plastic climbing walls is evidence of the Rotarians' dedication and hard work as well as the spirit of the larger community.

Beyond the hard work and generosity that built the playground, the real significance of the Rotary project is what the playground means for special-needs children in terms of expanding their opportunities for physical activity and simple play that is taken for granted by so many other children.