Its spongy rubber surface is deteriorating, some of its equipment is in a state of disrepair and lighting is needed at the Ryan Gray Playground for All Children.

But a neighbor of the playground is hoping the same kind of community support that built the uncommon facility a decade ago can be harnessed to repair and upgrade the playground that memorializes the boy who was unofficial mascot of the Kansas Jayhawks’ 1987-88 NCAA champion basketball team.

“The playground is almost 10 years old,” Cathy Hut said. “A number of things need to be done.”

Besides lighting and replacing or restoring equipment, the sprinkler system and the playground’s spongy, wheelchair-friendly surface must be replaced.

So Hut is looking for volunteers to work at two Memorial Stadium concession stands during Kansas University football games. Proceeds from the concession stands will be deposited in a Hillcrest School Parent-Teacher Organization fund set up to pay for the improvements.

The playground is part of the Hillcrest School campus, 1045 Hilltop Drive.

“We’re hoping we can raise between $5,000 and $10,000 a year off the concession stands,” said Hut, who is president of both the Hillcrest PTO and West Hills Homes Assn.

Also backing the fund-raising campaign are the Hillcrest Neighborhood and the West Wood Homeowners associations.

The playground was built in 1993 in memory of Gray, a wheelchair-bound Lawrence High School student who in 1988 was unofficially adopted by then-KU basketball coach Larry Brown and members of the Danny Manning-led 1987-88 team.

Gray, the son of Dr. Captain and Kitty Gray of Lawrence, often traveled with the team to road games and attended many home games.

Among Jayhawk fans, Gray was both well-known and admired.

Born with a brain tumor, he died Sept. 6, 1990. He was 17.

After Gray’s death, several groups raised money to design and build a wheelchair-friendly playground in his memory.

“It was a groundbreaking design at the time,” Hut said. “Everything is fully accessible, so children with special needs can play here  and they do. This playground gets a lot of use.”

Recently, the city of Lawrence awarded the three neighborhood associations a $7,500 grant for adding lights. The Lawrence school district is expected to contribute the $12,500 needed to complete that part of the project.

But replacing the playground’s soft rubber surface is expected to cost $100,000.

“Unfortunately, the company that made the (rubber) tiles is no longer in business,” Hut said. “But the tiles that are there now are starting to separate and need to be replaced.”

She and others plan to approach area businesses and benefactors for donations later this year.

Concession-stand volunteers need to be available from:

 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for games that start at 1 p.m.

 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. for games that start at 6 p.m.

The KU game Saturday with Bowling Green begins at 6 p.m. Starting times for the remaining home games  Oct. 12, Oct. 19, Nov. 2  have yet to be announced.

“There’s a message in all this,” said Hank Booth, general manager at radio station KLZR and one of the playground’s original backers. “The message is that this is a community that cares about all of its children, regardless of their abilities.”