Kidzville 2 celebrates their soft opening

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — Kidzville celebrated their long-awaited soft opening Sunday evening at Riverside Park.

While there are still some items to be completed on the project, the kids park will be fully open in the very near future– a point which project leader, and Assistant Fire Chief for the Zanesville Fire Department, Doug Hobson said he wasn’t sure they would get to as of yesterday evening.

“Yesterday was a real tough day, we were short on volunteers. We didn’t know if we were going to make it or not. We ran equipment until 11 o’clock last night. Three operators, myself, putting mulch in, and we started at quarter-til-six again this morning,” explained Hobson.

Hobson also raved about the number of people that showed up on Sunday and helped make the soft opening happen. He thanked the County Commissioners for purchasing 160 lunches from the South Zanesville Fire Department Chicken BBQ, so the volunteers could eat. He added they put a hog on at 2 a.m. for a “Hog Roast” at Sunday evening’s opening as well.

Despite being short staffed on Saturday, the National Guard sent extra volunteers on Sunday, and many community members showed up for the final push and were able to celebrate the opening that they planned on almost two months ago.

“Seven weeks ago we weren’t sure we were going to do this. And Doug has stepped up, these two young ladies, Lisa and Terri, stepped up and made this happen. Can’t thank the community enough. People have stepped up, businesses have stepped up, it was a tough five days but we got it done, and thanks to these people right here,” said Mayor Jeff Tilton proudly.

Instead of doing a traditional ribbon cutting ceremony, Zanesville City Schools had students grades K-6 write their name on a paper “chain link.” The kids then ran through the chain links to signify the opening of Kidzville 2.

The kids and the community is what this project was all about. Terri Herron, Lisa Hittle and Doug Hobson all spoke with Mayor Jeff Tilton prior to the opening and thanked the hundreds of volunteers, corporate sponsors, and the designers for making the project possible. Each explained it was an emotional evening seeing the kids finally have a safe place to play, and recognizing the bonds that were formed and the teamwork that was required in the coming together of the park.

Kids were allowed to play from 5-6 p.m. Sunday evening before the park was closed. Mayor Tilton says there is a punch list of items and certifications that need to be completed before it remains open for good.