Celebrating 10 years of creative play
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All they wanted was a place where their children could play with other kids. That was a tall order because their children had disabilities that made them function differently. So the five mothers joined forces, and the Center for Creative Play was born.
Bob Donaldson, Post-GazetteJing Zhou of Squirrel Hill plays with daughter Elim Chen, 2.
Click photo for larger image.
Center for Creative Play welcomes complementary tenants
The Center for Creative Play will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Saturday with a daylong party, free to the public, from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Special activities will also be offered every day in October. A full calendar of events is available online at www.centerforcreativeplay.org.
That was in 1995. This month, as the center celebrates its 10th anniversary, it is more than the founders ever could have envisioned.
Not only did the nonprofit group buy the vacant Foodland building on Braddock Avenue in Swissvale and transform it into a bright, spacious indoor playground that draws 50,000 patrons a year; it also found a way to make itself financially sustainable over the long haul and to spread its mission of inclusive play space to other communities.
Mara Kaplan, the center's CEO and the only founder who remains involved, said the operation generates 60 percent of its $1.1 million annual budget through income-earning enterprises.
It rents space in the building to tenants chosen for their complementary missions and activities (see accompanying story). That income covers 85 percent of the center's mortgage payments. In addition, the organization produces and sells a series of CDs called "Time to Sing," with slower music designed to help children learn to speak.
Through a new advocacy and consulting practice, the center is helping create accessible play environments in other locations. Staffers will assess existing locations or review architectural plans for classrooms, children's museums, playgrounds and after-school programs. Two projects were recently completed in Michigan, with four more in development there, in Ohio and in Pennsylvania.
First Published October 5, 2005 12:00 am
