A committee run entirely by volunteers (and assisted by City Hall staff) is in charge of getting PlayTown Suwanee over the finish line: 

Co-chair Colette Grodzicki moved to Suwanee in 2005 when she began teaching at North Gwinnett High School. She enjoys helping families “Get it Together” with her handy ma’am business, and will be returning to teaching at North Gwinnett in the fall after a year off. She and her husband Kelsey have two children who are both students in the Dual Language Immersion program at Level Creek Elementary School. Colette is so, so excited to be a part of the Playtown project!

Co-chair Zach Whigham married his wife, Stacey, at Suwanee First United Methodist church in 2013. The couple moved to Old Town Suwanee in 2020 where they reside with their four-year-old daughter.  Zach enjoys traveling, playing golf, and attending all the festivals and events that Suwanee hosted throughout the year.  He currently works in business development for an IT company and is very excited to participate in the re-build of Playtown Suwanee.

• Why a community build? Community-built projects build community! The experience offers a rare opportunity for individuals to collectively give something back to their community, resulting in a beautifully constructed, unique expression of shared pride.

• Are we building the playground all by ourselves? The city has contracted with Leathers & Associates – the designer and project management team behind the original community build – to return to Suwanee to help modernize PlayTown Suwanee for a new generation. Since 1971, Leathers has helped build over 3,800 playgrounds across all 50 states (and in seven other countries, too!).

• Who designed the new playground? The city partnered with Leathers & Associates – the designer and project management team behind the original community build – to return to Suwanee to help modernize PlayTown Suwanee for a new generation. The project team hosted brainstorm sessions with the ultimate playground experts: kids! Interactive design brainstorming sessions were held with chosen classrooms from Suwanee elementary schools. Additionally, design sheets were sent home with elementary school children and made available at Suwanee.com. 

• What materials will be used? We are committed to using environmentally-friendly construction materials, including recycled structural plastic and recycled composite lumber. Both are earth-friendly, long lasting, and virtually maintenance-free.

• Why not just rehabilitate the existing structure? We explored rehabbing it, but ultimately it made even more sense to rebuild PlayTown Suwanee with modern, durable materials and incorporate some new features.

• I don’t know if I trust community volunteers to build a safe playground… All designs created by Leathers & Associates meet or exceed ASTM International Playground Safety Standards, CPSC Safety Guidelines and ADA. Every one of their designers and construction consultants are certified playground safety inspectors – PlayTown v2.0 will be inspected and certified upon completion.

• Contact PlayTown Project Manager Kim Towne,
  for more information on this project.