SAN ANTONIO – Christmas came early for residents on the East side -- for kids and adults, alike.
The Ella Austin Community Center has a new playground, thanks to the United Way, Humana and KaBoom, an organization whose goal it is to make sure kids have a place to play.
"We had a playground here but it was in disrepair. It was unsafe. I had to close the playground," said Tony Hargrove, the executive director the community center.
Two hundred volunteers from the organizations and the neighborhood showed up Thursday morning to build the playground.
"We do it in 6 hours, that's why we have out 200 volunteers who come out. We split them up into different groups and they get to work," said Kristin Carsch, with Kaboom.
The playground was designed by the kids in the neighborhood. Engineers decided on three plans and then the community voted.
The new playground is not just for the kids -- it is a multigenerational park, including exercise equipment for adults.
"It's going to be awesome. I am even going to be running around, playing. It's going to be hard to get them off the playground," said resident and mom Grace Rodriquez.
"Its going to be a place where families can gather and children can play," Hargrove said.