Riverside Park Playground Now Covered Thanks to Rotary Club

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Rotary Riverside Park in Centralia now has a new roof over its playground to provide protection against the weather thanks to the Centralia Rotary Club.

Whether it be a rainy, overcast day or a scorching summer day, kids can now frolic on the playground year-round. 

The project to build the roof was funded by the Centralia Rotary Project Foundation, a nonprofit branch of the Rotary that can accept donations. The project’s total cost was $100,375.79 and was completed after a gift from the estate of Helen B. Holloway, said Centralia Rotary President Kahle Jennings. 

“We often get asked, ‘Why is it so tall?’ Safety regulations require the underside (of the roof structure) to be six feet above the tallest play feature,” Jennings said in an email to The Chronicle.

Now that the roof is complete, the playground will have a new fall protection surface installed to replace the one damaged during the last flood. 



The park is located along the Skookumchuck River on Lowe Street just off Harrison Avenue.

The Centralia Rotary Project Foundation has for years funded projects and improvements at the park.

About 4 and a half acres of the park site were originally owned and developed by the Centralia Rotary Club. It was donated to Centralia in 1983. 

“This park is now home to the city’s 44,000-square-foot regional skatepark and provides a wide range of active and passive recreational opportunities,” the city states on its website.