Five days, 1000 volunteers: Incredible story behind city's most beloved playground

It all started more than two decades ago when Luke Wilkinson decided to take his kids to a playground located inside Orange Public School.

The law to prevent members of the public accessing school grounds had changed shortly prior and on that day, Mr Wilkinson recalled a police car pulled up and sat by the side of the road.

It was at this moment he knew Orange needed a "bigger, better" playground for the city's children to access.

Although he was "never an expert", Mr Wilkinson did have experience in a similar project from his time living in Melbourne.

A public meeting was called and a committee formed.

"Those people were crucial in providing support and a level of activism required to make something like this happen," Mr Wilkinson said.

The next step was approaching Orange City Council. But it wasn't money they were after.

Instead, the group merely asked for support and a location to build.

Finally in late 2002 following 12 months of planning, the group was ready to construct the Adventure Playground.

Things didn't quite run as smoothly as they would have liked.

The collapse of HIH Insurance in 2001 meant they weren't able to get public liability insurance. Then Orange council's general manager at the time, Allen Dwyer, stepped in to say they would "take care of it".

That wasn't the end of their headaches though.

Day one of the build had commenced, but the screws and nails were nowhere to be seen.

"I spent a good part of the day just making phone calls," Mr Wilkinson said.

But for as many problems that arose, the amount of support from the community was infinitely more.

"I got the yellow pages up and started asking every builder in town if they had a few hours spare," Mr Wilkinson added.

"It's amazing how many sponsorships came in when they saw it being built."

Across five days it's estimated at least 1000 volunteers lent a hand in some way, shape or form.

Be it holding a hammer, providing a hot meal or coordinating the build itself, Orange's community proved the "pipe dream" was anything but.

"People warned me they didn't think Orange was that community-minded," Mr Wilkinson, who had only lived in the city for five years up to that point recalled.

"They told me I'd find it difficult to pull off, but the build was fun seeing it go up."

That's all it took to make a playground which has serviced an estimated 2,000,000 visitors since.

Now, it is set to be torn down and replaced with a $2.4 million playground in its stead.

Mr Wilkinson believed the time was right for their community project to be replaced.

"My kids are grown up and moved on. I like the fact they're going through the renewal process now," he added.

"It's in need of some renewal and I'm sure it's in good hands. I hope it comes in on budget and is successful for the future of Orange."

It is hoped the new playground will be ready to go by the end of 2024.

Fence pickets engraved with the names of residents who donated to the original playground will be available for collection once they have been removed.

Council will advise the community on the process for this when the time comes. Any pickets not collected and in suitable condition will be reused in the new playground.