 Well, after vandalism to a park in Pierce left the equipment unsafe for children, the community there has come together to replace the park structure. Sarah Winkelman has the story. For 28 years, the American Legion Park in Pierce was a place to go and have some fun. But the future of the playground was unknown after an act of vandalism closed the park in May. Somebody had thrown a rock through one of the slides. And because the park was so old, we were not able to replace the just the slide. So unfortunately, we had to replace the entire structure in order for it to be able to be safe for children to play on. With no room in the budget for this kind of upgrade, the community thought the park might remain closed for quite some time. We were looking at, you know, into the spring before we were even going to be able to start construction on the playground. Instead, it's the end of November and the new playground is already up and running. Although the final numbers aren't in quite yet, the city estimates the project costs somewhere between $25,000 and $30,000, with that support coming from NJPA and the community. Kerry called the National Joint Powers Alliance just days before their fiscal year ended, taking advantage of a $2,500 small project partnership grant for both 2016 and 2017, totaling $5,000. NJPA has a program that if you purchase through them and their vendors, you get a percent back in rebate dollars. Which added on another $5,600 and the local Lions Club, Legion and Knights of Columbus added to the total. Pierce is a very tight knit community and we are all about community support. A community support that saved the park. Reporting in Pierce, Sarah Winkleman, Lakeland News. The sentence to surf program in Morrison County helped with the installation of the new equipment. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.