There will be play.

Vine Street Elementary is set to open to the public on Saturdays starting on June 13.

Children play “sleeping bag hop” during public hours at Vine Street Elementary. (photo courtesy of People for Parks)

The school, located at 955 Vine St., is part of the community-school park initiative spearheaded by the People for Parks nonprofit in conjunction with the Los Angeles Unified School District. In 2012, the school’s park was re-opened after its asphalt was replaced with green landscaping. The revitalized park includes a volleyball net, basketball court, rubberized track, benches, playground area and mini soccer field. The initiative’s goal was to keep the park open for the public after school until dusk and on the weekends.

Due to a fundraising dry spell, People for Parks had to reduce hours late last year and then close the public hours altogether this year. The group created an Indiegogo campaign to raise money, starting with a goal of $12,000. That money would be used to keep Vine Street and People for Parks’ other community-park, Trinity Elementary, open one day a week for a year. The goal was met.

“It was all grassroots with small donations of $50 to $200,” said Anna Gruben, People for Parks program director. “So basically, what we’ve been trying to do in addition to raising money, is to get parents and community members involved with supporting the community-park.”

Maria Martinez, who has helped supervise the park, said her 6th grade son Joshua Duarte will be thrilled about the re-opening.

“We were here since day one when it opened initially,” she said. “The park is kind of hidden, but word of mouth started and everyone was spreading the news. Kids are always asking me when the park is going to open. Families would come over and celebrate. Everyone would pitch in. It’s a shame we only have one day, but we can take what they give us.”

Officially, community-school parks are meant to be a safe space within a neighborhood where residents can come together to be active as a community, LAUSD officials said. The key is that an outside agency, such as a nonprofit, must provide supervision, liability insurance and other resources during non-school hours.

This month, the Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council (CHNC) awarded the community-parks initiative a Neighborhood Purposes Grant of approximately $5,000.

“The community was a big part of helping us apply for the funding,” Gruben said.

For every 1,000 residents in Hollywood, there are only .08 acres of park space compared to 4.2 acres citywide.

“It’s incredibly dense and it’s a lower income part of the city,” Gruben said. “These kids need options when they aren’t in school during the week and weekends — so they are not on dangerous streets with gang activities or just staying at home playing video games and watching TV. This park is a great refuge where they can run out and go and play.”

CHNC board president Milagros Lizarraga said supporting the park was a good use for the money.

“There’s a need for parks, definitely for Hollywood throughout, and there is not much space for new parks,” she said. “What they’re doing is great and it was no easy task to set this up with LAUSD. They had already done that part of the work. It feels good to support this effort and it would be great if more of these initiatives could get going.”

Vine Street Elementary principal Christopher Stehr said he has really seen an impact from the public hours.

“I think it’s helped us tremendously as far as really connecting with the community,” he said. “It took a little while for them to get used to coming to the park, but once that happened it really became a weekly event for our families. A lot of parents felt more ownership of the school.”

Stehr said he hopes public hours will continue and expand.

“It was a real letdown when it had to be closed, but they’re excited about it being open again,” he said. “It gives the kids and the families a place to play in the neighborhood that is completely safe.”

For information or to donate, visit www.indiegogo.com/projects/community-school-parks.