Cincinnati Parks plans to resurrect the Sawyer Point playground with the help of the Lazarus lizard.
A fire destroyed the playground in 2024, causing millions of dollars in damage to the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge and disrupting traffic for months.
Cincinnati Parks officials on Sept. 10 unveiled the Lazarus lizard as the design of what will be the new playground at Cincinnati's riverfront park.
"It's got to be the coolest playground in the region," said Jason Barron, director of Cincinnati Parks.
If you've spent any amount of time in Cincinnati, you've glimpsed this small green and brown lizard flitting about rock walls and gardens.
It's not native to the area, but it's become one of the most recognizable characters of the region's ecosystem.
"Everybody's
got a story about them, you know, kids that catch them," Barron said.
Here's what you should know about the plans for the new playground.
Why is the playground being built?
The playground replaces the 1000 Hands Playground destroyed in a fire set by four people Nov. 1, 2024. The 1000 Hands Playground was built in 2003 underneath the Daniel Carter Beard Bridge.
The new playground will be in one of the most visible parts of the city, near the pickleball courts, just east of the former playground site. It will not be underneath the bridge.
Why a lizard?
The park district sought public input. People said they wanted a theme around local animals, Barron said.
The initial idea of a pig and a steamboat "didn't sing to anybody," Barron said. After consulting with local naturalists, park officials landed on the Lazarus lizard.
The playground will tell the story of how Lazarus lizards came to Cincinnati in the 1950s. The lizards, officially known as the common wall lizard, are native to Europe.
According to the most commonly accepted version of local lore, a 10-year-old boy named George Rau Jr. in 1951 returned from a family trip in Italy with several of the lizards in a sock. He released them in the yard of his East Walnut Hills residence, and the species found the climate in Cincinnati to its liking. All of Cincinnati's lizards are believed to be descended from lizards in Rau's sock. Rau was a member of the Lazarus family, which founded Lazarus Department Stores, hence the name Lazarus lizards.
What will it look like?
The playground design imagines what would happen if the 10-year-old Rau Jr. walked through Sawyer Point with an ice cream cone and a sock with a lizard in it, Barron said. He tries to grab the lizard and drops his ice cream cone. Then a bunch of toys and items fall out of his pocket.
"Boom!" Barron said. "You have the lizard inside the playground, and then George and all the little kids that want to play on it are like shrunk down to play amongst the chaos."
Based on the current designs, the playground will have a large wooden lizard crawling out from under a sock. A 36-foot-tall ice cream cone will feature two slides coming out of it and an internal climbing apparatus.
Around the lizard and sock will be playground fixtures that represent toys that could have fallen out of Rau's pocket in 1951.
There's a slingshot that's a swing. Coins, including an Italian lira, are wobbly balancing discs. A baseball card featuring a yet-to-be-decided 1950s player will be a picnic table.
What's next?
The Cincinnati Parks Foundation has started raising money. Parks officials will have a big fundraising push during Oktoberfest Zinzinnati Sept. 17-20. Parks officials also plan to seek city funding. The exact amount of private and public donations remains to be determined, Barron said. The project has already received $389,000 in Cincy on Track funding from the investment proceeds of the city's railroad sale.
Barron said the playground could open by spring 2028.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Sawyer Point to get unique 'Lazarus lizard' park
