Carousels and horses and dragons, oh my: The residents of Missoula, Montana know how to a good playspace for kids. Between a refurbished carousel and a custom-built playground called Dragon Hollow, Missoula children have a magical play area. Even better, town residents have a special bond with the space, thanks to a community build effort. Kids designed the playground and thousands of volunteers built the carousel and Dragon Hollow themselves, giving the community a real sense of ownership.

“Everyone feels a part of it and contributed something, whether they built stairs or painted something,” said Theresa Cox, executive director of A Carousel for Missoula and Dragon Hollow Playarea. “We had a story of a lawyer spending all day doing something a carpenter could have done in 20 minutes, but he was so proud when he finished.”

Missoula undertook – and completed – these two huge tasks largely because of community members. In 1995, volunteers created the beautiful carousel out of an old frame that been in thousands of pieces, hand-carved horses, gargoyles, mirrors, and an organ. Mechanics rebuilt a 1918 carousel motor and made parts they couldn’t find. Five years later, the core group of carousel volunteers decided to build a playground nearby. And because the carousel had been so successful, they dreamed big and came up with Dragon Hollow, an expansive playground that was built by volunteers in nine days.

To build Dragon Hollow, Missoula turned to the true play experts for ideas: the kids who’d be using the community playground. With the help of playground builders Leathers and Associates, the volunteers went to classes in several schools to see what kids would want in their dream playground. The answer? A playground shaped like a three-headed dragon.

Once again, the community rallied together to make the build happen. Cox said they raised $200,000, mostly in small donations, although one local woman gave $25,000 and the Washington Foundation gave $15,000. Every part of the playground, from the slide to the sidewalk, was “adopted” to individuals or community members. Fundraising activities included selling personalized pickets (1,113 sold and counting), while the local radio station 102.5 Mountain FM put a local in a manlift for two days until $10,000 had been raised for the playground. Plus, local vendors donated both equipment and construction expertise.

“People came in at night after a full day’s work to help,” Cox said. “It floored me what people were willing to do. You have to give the community a chance to be a community.”

The Home Depot, also KaBOOM!'s Founding Partner, donated materials while employees built a pavilion, all while wearing special orange T-shirts with both The Home Depot and Dragon Hollow logos.

But despite the big success of the carousel and playground, Cox knows how hard it can be to ask community members for help and money.

“I’m uncomfortable asking people for things,” Cox said. For the first eight years of the carousel’s existence, it survived mainly on its operating income from ride fares. But a few years ago, Cox found the carousel needed more. “We had to ask people for money again. I found that by not asking them, I’d been excluding them. They didn’t feel as much ownership as they would have if they were given the opportunity to remain involved with the carousel.”

With the renewed community interest in the carousel, Cox found that funding Dragon Hollow was an easy sell.

“When they were given the opportunity to be part of Dragon Hollow, whether or not they’d been a part of the carousel, people were excited to have the opportunity to help,” Cox said.

Since opening in 2001, Dragon Hollow has been very popular. The carousel has 220,000 riders a year, and Cox said every one of them plays at Dragon Hollow.

“Kids are out there all time in summer,” Cox said. “We have to chase people out at dusk.”

Even better is the connection that Missoulans have with their play area, including teenagers who helped design and plan the playground years ago.

“There’s a tremendous sense of ownership and protection,” Cox said. “Kids who participated in Dragon Hollow aren’t going to let kids destroy things that are there.”

Learn more about Missoula’s carousel and Dragon Hollow.

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