The second the ribbon was cut – kids swarmed the new play structures at Lafayette Elementary in the Admiral District, the culmination of many long months of fundraising and other hard work. Here’s a wider view, tweeted by @alexpietsch:

The party continues till 7, including a free barbecue courtesy of the Junction QFC:

The Toucans are playing steel-drum music, perfect on this almost-tropical late-summer night. Words of acknowledgement and celebration were offered by Deborah Hazlegrove and Holly Grambihler, co-chairs of the Play It Forward Project, which matched a $100,000 city grant with money, labor, and materials:

The playground isn’t all that’s new about Lafayette when school starts tomorrow – there’s a brand-new principal, Jo Lute-Ervin:

We’ve just spotted previous principal Virginia Turner, here to celebrate as well – “I worked hard on this for years!” she told someone who came over to say hi – as are School Board members Steve Sundquist, Harium Martin-Morris, and Peter Maier, as well as West Seattle’s executive director of schools, Aurora Lora. And Zach Scott from Seattle Sounders FC is signing autographs.

And there was homegrown entertainment – the Lafayette Popcorns jump-ropers!

This was phase 2 of the longrunning playground makeover … and yes, somewhere down the road, there is a phase 3 (“the back forty,” it was described tonight) … but first, time to enjoy. And to play.