Historic Church Gets One Of A Kind Playground, By: Ida Cisneros

Play Outdoors Texas

St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Lindsay, TX is a beloved part of its community. Its steeple is a visible comfort seen from almost any part of this small town, with an audible reminder of its presence from the bell tower which rings on the hour throughout the day.

A designated Texas Historical Site, this church has a significant history in the town of Lindsay. It was originally built by German settlers in 1892. Now on its third building, St Peter’s current Catholic church building was built over 100 years ago after it was destroyed by a tornado in 1917. In recent years, the church underwent a restoration process to restore the original religious artwork found in its sanctuary

This past year, after a generous donation from Paul and Gary Hess Trucking Inc, St. Peters decided to replace its playground which had fallen into disrepair. Groundskeeper Brett Wells says, “Our church is a work of art It’s in north Texas and it’s a historic work of art. My vision for this playground was to match what we have on the property.” Wells and his committee from St. Peters did not want a typical metal playground or anything with a commercial look. They were in search of something as unique as their beloved church. After much research, Wells found the playground company, Play Outdoors Texas located just south of Aubrey on US Hwy 377

New to North Texas, but not to playgrounds, Play Outdoors Texas is originally out of Lubbock, Texas “We were excited to expand into North Texas after our partnership with Backyard Adventures Playsets opened an opportunity to take over the sales territory almost two years ago.” says owner Randy Cisneros. “We’ve done playgrounds from the DFW area to West Texas and Eastern New Mexico, but we knew this playground was going to be different than any of the others we’d done before.”

“I saw they could do custom work and the layout of the roofs reminded me exactly of our church,” says Wells Cisneros came out to do a site visit and together, along with the help of Father Martin, began to design a playset that would benefit the children of Lindsay and correspond with the one-of-a-kind design of the St Peter’s Catholic Church”

After approval by the playground committee, Play Outdoors Texas began working on this playground in late October. “Because this was an entire playground overhaul, we had our work cut-out for us Our crew drove the hour twice daily for weeks to make sure this project would be completed in December, including the custom work,” says Cisneros.

“We asked Randy to create a steeple that would mirror the steeple on our church,” Wells says “There is no other playground that looks like ours ” After loads of materials, hours of groundwork and construction, the playground was complete.

The playground was reopened to the children of Lindsay in mid-December after a small ceremony honoring the donation in memory of Shirley Reiter Hess and Leslie Don Hess.

“Lindsay is a great community,” Cisneros says, “It’s been a privilege getting to know members of the town that made their way out to check on the progress of the playground as we worked. The Police Chief kept a close eye on things as we progressed. We even had city council member, Glenn “Tic” Block, and local resident, Dennis Lutkenhaus, donate their time, equipment and expertise to ensure that the project stayed on track. Their entire community was invested and enthusiastic about this project.”

Play Outdoors Texas takes pride in their work and dedication to family and community “We love what we do Playgrounds bring joy, memories, and togetherness to families and communities. We were blessed to be a part of this project and to be a part of the Lindsay community for those few weeks,” says Cisneros.

St. Peter’s Catholic church is open to visitors daily from 8:30-5pm, but respectfully do not tour or photograph the church during their Mass Services or on Thursdays during Adoration times Group tours can be scheduled by contacting the Parish Office at (940) 668-7609.

Play Outdoors Texas is a family-owned and operated business located at 4290 US Hwy 377 S in Aubrey, TX. They can be contacted at 945-468-2100. You can find their Cedar and Vinyl residential and commercial playground products at www playoutdoorstexas com They are an authorized dealer for Backyard Adventures, Swing Kingdom, SpringFree Trampolines, Lelands Barns & Sheds and Metal Structures, Star Buildings and Carports, and Lone Star Windmills.