SIDNEY, Neb. — The Sidney Park Project held a ground breaking ceremony at 4 p.m. Monday afternoon, marking the start of construction on a new playground for Legion Park.

In the next six to eight weeks, Sidney will have a new accessible and inclusive playground after the park project committee rose $711,000 in less than 15 months through private donations, grants and fundraiser events. No city tax dollars were used for the project. 

Kids were seen playing on the original equipment one last time before helping break ground with plastic hard hats and shovels. The playground was closed Monday while equipment was removed and dirt work began on the new playground. 

Liviana, Addy, and Hadley, all age 5, are preschoolers in Sidney and helped with the groundbreaking. Liviana and Addy said they were excited about the new merry-go-round. Hadley is excited for new swings.

Park committee members expect the park to be open around the 4th of July, but the trip of girls hopes the opening date will be much sooner.

“I wish it was done tomorrow,” Hadley said. 

“It’s going to take like a week to build it,” Addy said.

The future veterinarian, police officer, and doctor agree they're going to play on the park together all summer.

Weather permitting, the initial dirt work and removal of the old equipment will take one to two weeks. That will be followed by the installation and build of the new equipment, which, according to the Sidney Park Project, will "create a safe space with playground equipment and ground surfaces allowing all abilities and ages to come together to foster community and play."

Any additional money raised will go towards adding cement slabs for handicap parking on the south side of the playground. Donations are still being accepted at sidneyparkproject.com.

The original playground equipment is city property and will go to auction at a later date if it is deemed usable again.