Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago Park District General Superintendent Michael P. Kelly, Alderman Greg Mitchell (7^th) and members of the South Chicago community today celebrated the opening of a new playground at Rainbow Beach Park, 3111 E. 77^th Street. The playground is the 225th to be completed as part of Mayor Emanuel's Chicago Plays! program.

“Investing in playgrounds means investing in the fabric of a community,” said Mayor Emanuel. "Every child in Chicago deserves a quality place to just be a kid. Through this initiative, we are revitalizing neighborhoods across the City.”

The Chicago Plays! playground renovation program was launched in 2013 by Mayor Emanuel to rebuild, repair and/or refurbish 325 playgrounds in communities across Chicago within a 5-year period. Thanks to the aggressive schedule undertaken by the Chicago Park District, the program’s timeline is ahead of schedule, with just 100 playgrounds remaining.

"We are extremely excited to celebrate the completion of our 225th playground renovation here at Rainbow Beach Park," said Chicago Park District General Superintendent Michael Kelly. "Under Mayor Emanuel’s leadership, we are making incredible progress, not only in renovating every park playground in the city but also ensuring that every resident is within a ten-minute walk to a park and has access to quality recreation opportunities.”

The program is investing approximately $125,000 in new playground equipment at each park location for a total program cost of $37,500,000, providing a broad investment in capital projects throughout the City.

Mayor Emanuel's Chicago Plays! program underscores major announcements the Mayor has previously made regarding parks, including a comprehensive plan to build and improve parks throughout the city.

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