11-Year-Old Girl Drew a Playground and Asked City Hall to Build It, So the City Did: ‘Even Better Than I Imagined’
The Utah girl, now 12, imagined a better playground for her younger sisters to safely play on
Clearfield City/Facebook
Utah resident Rosili Olson's playground drawingA young girl in Utah is thinking outside of the (crayon) box!
Clearfield resident Rosili Olson, 12, used her crayons last year when she was 11 to draw a playground she imagined would be better suited for her younger sisters to safely play on. After taking her drawings to City Hall, the city decided to use her designs to build the playground.
Less than a year later, on Tuesday, Sept. 24, the girl attended the grand opening of the playground at Bicentennial Park with her mom and sisters, who all helped with the ceremonial ribbon cutting.
“Rosili realized the playground by her house was suited for ages 5-12 and was not geared toward her younger sister,” Clearfield officials wrote in the caption of a Facebook video showing off the creation process. “After seeing her initiative and detail, we knew we had to make her dream happen.”
Clearfield City/Facebook
The new playground at Bicentennial Park in Clearfield, UtahRosili then “reviewed multiple versions until we had checked all her boxes and got the colors right,” the post explained, adding that she had initially pitched her idea to Eric Howes, the city’s head of parks and recreation.
At one point in the video, a smiling Rosili stood near an empty plot of land where the playground would eventually be built.
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Clearfield City/Facebook
Rosili Olson at Bicentennial Park before the playground was built“Rosili’s a very strong-willed and very wonderful person,” her mom, Annie Olson, told area newspaper Standard-Examiner. “When she brought it up, I thought, ‘This is a big deal.’ … All I did was call [City Hall] and say, ‘Hey, do me a favor. Would you let my daughter come in?’ They were so gracious and so kind, a lot more than I ever could’ve imagined, for sure.”
The head of parks and recreation said Rosili’s pitch came at the right time.
“It was budgeted but we didn’t have any specifics,” Howes said to the outlet. “After seeing all the effort she put into all of those drawings knowing we’d already ordered the playground for the park right by her house, the next best thing was to say, ‘We’ve got a playground coming in next year. Let’s use what you’ve done and build something there.’ ”
Clearfield City/Facebook
The ribbon cutting for the new playground in Clearfield, Utah“It was just simply asking her, ‘Do you want to be involved?’ She said ‘yes’ and her mom was committed to bringing her every time,” Howes said, noting that he met with Rosili “three or four times” to review plans along the way.
At the ribbon cutting with family by her side, Rosili said, “It’s even better than I imagined. It’s so beautiful,” per the Standard-Examiner.
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