HANNAHVILLE – It took three years to plan and one day to build. The Hannahville Indian Community put up a new playground this week at the Cedarview subdivison.

About 75 people helped to construction the playground on Tuesday. They gathered at 8 a.m. to lay out the playground equipment and transform the empty field.

Amanda Hess said the project started as a request for a slide and swing set and turned into a $72-thousand playground park.

“I started looking into the prices and looked into the area and we have this huge area right in the middle of our subdivision and I thought that would be the perfect place for a playground or a park,” Hess said. “I thought it was too big for just a slide and a merry-go-round. I thought our kids deserved a little bit more than that so I started to work with a playground company called Superior Play and we worked together for three years on that plan.”

Hess said they wanted to make sure they offered everything possible to a wide range of ages. There are slides, spinners, climbing walls, monkey bars and swings, including a disability swing. One area is designed for toddlers. The other area is for older kids. It also includes signage with the Potawatomi language something Hess says was important to do.

“It’s important because the Native American language is actually a dying language. It’s not a written language, it’s a predominately spoken language so it’s a really hard language to pass on, to keep going. I just thought it would be a really cool thing to incorporate that aspect of our culture into the playground,” Hess said.

An honor song with the Native American drum was sang after the construction was completed. A dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony will be held at 11:30 Monday morning.

Despite the ribbon being cut on the new playground, Hess says she does not feel the project is completely done. She is starting the paperwork to put in a streetlight at the park. But she is able to step back and be proud of what the community has been able to accomplish.

“I don’t think I’ve been more proud of anything I’ve done in my life except for getting my college degree and having my daughter,” she said.