the playground the fire took

and twelve years later, it's finally coming back.

Back in 2014, the playground at Taku Lake Park in south Anchorage burned down. It was one of those losses a neighborhood doesn't forget. For twelve years, kids who came for the lake and the trails had no playground waiting for them.

That changes now. A brand new playground is opening at Taku Lake, and it was designed so kids of every ability can play on it together. Physical, sensory, developmental, all of it. Every kid, same playground, same afternoon. The Anchorage Park Foundation and the city's parks department led the push, with community partners behind them.

The money came from a mix that says a lot about this town. Anchorage voters said yes, and then a shipping company, a family charitable fund, and the Rasmuson Foundation all chipped in.

And it lands in a park that's quietly become one of the best comeback stories in the city. Tennis courts, pickleball, an outdoor fitness area, and a skatepark, all added over the years while the playground spot sat empty. Families stuck around anyway. The park kept earning them back. Ask anyone who's done a lap around that lake this summer.

If your kids have been circling Taku Lake on their bikes wondering when they get their turn, the answer is now. Go wear them out.