A Tale of Two Playgrounds The idea for building the first playground came from a few parents and teachers. They wanted to build a playground because the kids of Lockwood and the surrounding communities didn’t have a nice park nearby to play on. They began by developing the first committee with parents, teachers, and people from the community in the Fall of 1992. They knew it would take a great deal of effort, planning, and time to raise the $75,000 to pay for the new playground. Separate committees formed to help with all of the details. They asked for donations in the community and had many fundraising events. They even had a contest for the kids to think of a name for the new playground…. and it was to be known as Lion’s Lair from then on. Altogether, it took about 18 months for them to raise all of the money and build the new playground. The original Lion’s Lair playground was built in only 5 days, from April 12 to April 17, 1994. Local businesses and people helped to make it all possible. Everyone worked together and it was a very memorable project. Over 100 volunteers and members of the community helped to build the playground. Families came from Billings and Lockwood to enjoy the new playground. Everyone was very proud of the project. The playground served the community for about 21 years. They eventually had to take it down because the wood had rotted and made it unsafe for the kids to play on. Everyone was very disappointed that the first Lion’s Lair had to be taken down in 2012. Then, in the fall of 2014, the Lockwood PTA met and decided to rebuild the playground because they thought it was important to replace the Lion’s Lair.. This time, they needed to raise $230,000 to pay for the new playground. So once again, parents and teachers joined the new playground committees. They worked very hard for almost 2 years to complete the new playground project. Construction began on June 8, 2016, and it took about 9 weeks to build. Once again, volunteers from the Billings community worked together to build it. The commemorative bricks from the sidewalk of the first playground were saved and reused on the new playground. The official Grand Opening of the new Lion’s Lair was September 16, 2016. It was a celebration of another great community project. We hope that the community of Lockwood enjoys the new playground for many years to come. Researched and presented by Mrs. Biggins' Third Grade Class April 2017