Handicapped treehouse project draws first volunteers

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Handicapped treehouse project draws first volunteers

$2,500 needed for design plans

http://mywebtimes.com/ottnews/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=347569

Two men connected with the building trades have stepped up as

volunteers to help build a handicapped accessible treehouse in La

Salle County's Catlin Park.

Liebhart of Liebhart Construction in Ottawa and Surrock, a

cement contractor in Streator, have offered their time and talent to

the project, which organizer Klotz hopes to have under way

next spring.

Leibhart said he and Klotz met for an hour Saturday, looking at the

land -- about an acre -- the county is providing for the treehouse

site.

" The land the county is offering is almost in the shape of an " L "

and the whole inside of the " L " is a ravine, " said Klotz.

" The top portion of the 'L' that sticks up is all wooded with a

trail cut into it so you can look down the ravine. That's where deer

play; they run up that ravine onto that top piece of land. "

" It's a great site in a great park, " said Liebhart, who began his

construction company in 1983.

" I told her I would help out with supervising getting the treehouse

erected as well as trying to help her out with finding some

donations and other people who might be interested in helping out in

some way, " he said. " But, there's a lot of things up in the air. I

haven't seen a drawing or a rendering of the treehouse yet. My

understanding is that it's going to be kind of deck built around

trees with a roof over part of it. "

To get the plans done, Klotz first needs to raise $2,500 to have

Forever Young Treehouses of Burlington, Vt., send its team of

engineers and architects here to design a treehouse to fit into the

available space. Forever Young, a nonprofit organization, has been

promoting and constructing universally accessible treehouses

nationwide.

" The interest is bubbling, " said Klotz. " The word is out there. A

lot of people have talked to me about donating money, and I am sure

they will, but I have yet to receive the first check. "

All funds will be held by the Illinois Valley Center for Independent

Living.

It was a personal connection that drew Liebhart and Surrock to the

treehouse project.

" What kind of got me going on it more than anything else is we have

some handicapped (people) in the family, " said Liebhart. " So it kind

of touched home with me that it would be a good project to get

involved with and help out with. There's many times that we don't do

things with my wife's mother because she is limited to how far she

can walk, so it's kind of neat to be involved in something like

this. "

Surrock was similarly motivated and actually the first tradesman to

call, said Klotz.

" He said the minute he read about the project in The Times it hit

home to him and he knew it was something he had to do. "

" I've got an extremely handicapped daughter in a wheelchair, " said

Surrock, a longtime cement worker who began his own business in 2000.

Surrock's daughter, age 11, has brain development problems.

" There's a lot of things you can't do with a child like that, but

something like the treehouse -- I think she'd really get a lot of

enjoyment out of.

" I thought it would be great to have a place like that to take her

so that's why I got involved. Although I can't afford to buy the

concrete, I can form it up and pour it. "

Klotz commends both men.

" Last Saturday I just kept thanking . Thanking him for having a

heart, because he has a heart, and so does . Their hearts are

really with the kids and the others who will benefit. And that's the

kind of people we need: people with hearts. "

Beside labor and building supplies for the treehouse, other work

remains, Klotz said. She hopes to enhance an existing picnic

shelter, add a rest room and swing set that would be handicapped

accessible -- and perhaps other additions.

" We've got dreams, " she said. " Oh, yes. "