Deutsche Bank Volunteers at NYC Playground Workday

Bronx, NY, 1/11/2006: Students at P.S. 246 in the Bronx who have worked hard to design a new playground for their community will be joined by volunteers from Deutsche Bank and The Trust for Public Land (TPL) on Saturday, November 11, 2006. The group of approximately 50 student and adult volunteers will paint a teamwork-themed mural and plant bulbs and mums in the site’s unique serpentine planters.

The playground project is a $1 million investment in the community through the City Spaces program of The Trust for Public Land made possible by lead private funding from Deutsche Bank and a two-to-one funding match by the New York City Department of Education (DOE). The playground is one of 25 community parks being created citywide through a partnership of TPL, the DOE, the School Construction Authority, community sponsors, and private donors.

A team of students, teachers, and parents met last spring to design the park, which will include a basketball court and tennis court, running track, synthetic turf field, and fitness and play equipment. Today, they are working to further enhance the site with plantings in the new garden beds and painting a mural on the school walls that border the playground.

The new park will serve the school’s more than 800 students as well as children and families in the surrounding community. There are more than 6,000 children under the age of 18 within a quarter-mile of the school.

Deutsche Bank and its employees have generously contributed $333,000 to cover one-third of the cost of the playground, which was then matched two-to-one by the NYC Department of Education.

When complete, the playground will be the seventh done under the TPL-DOE partnership. Construction is underway at another five schools. This fall, students are working as members of participatory design teams for another three community playgrounds.

The Trust for Public Land (TPL) conserves land for people to enjoy as parks, gardens, and natural areas, ensuring livable communities for generations to come. The City Spaces program targets New York City neighborhoods least served by the current park system. For each $1 million playground, funding is raised by TPL from private donors, foundations, and corporations, and is matched two-to one by the DOE. TPL has created or enhanced more than 250 neighborhood parks in New York City, investing roughly $200 million in land purchases and in the design, construction, and stewardship of parks. For more information, visit www.tpl.org/nyc.