In less than seven hours, volunteers assembled, built, and admired a new North Park in Inglewood on Tuesday.  But this wasn't just any park.  It was a park designed by the kids who will be using it.  

"I designed the climbing rocks and the ladder," said 4-year-old Evelyn Hernandez proudly, as she waited anxiously for the park's unveiling.

The day of building was a joint effort of over 200 people including Inglewood community members, volunteers and funding support from Marriott International and guidance from KaBoom- a national nonprofit that creates safe play spaces within walking distance for children. 

KaBoom’s project manager, Kristin Karcsh, had met with Inglewood residents for 10 weeks in planning the day’s event.  One of the main tasks at hand: to create the park as an extension of the children's imaginations.

“We had about 25 kids come out.. and they were given blank pieces of paper and they got to design their dream playground,” said Karcsh.  “We picked apart the different pieces that the kids had dreamed up and that’s how we have our design today.”

North Park was the fourth KaBoom-renovated park in Inglewood.  Organizers say that replacing metal and concrete with high-density plastic and mulch will make the playground safer and prettier, but most importantly, it will be a place where children-- and the community-- can thrive.

“Too many kids are sitting at home, watching T.V., playing video games. They’ve gotta be outside. We pass by these parks in our community every day and see that they need work and we gotta do something to help ourselves and our community, especially in this economy,” said Shawn Chambliss, a volunteer and Inglewood resident.

The playground was finished just in time for the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2:30 p.m. as cheers and clapping resounded through the park.

"I'm a lot excited," shared Angel Orabuena, 4, Evelyn's fellow classmate.  He will be able to try out the equipment in the next few days after it is officially dry and complete.