“Oooh, a pirate ship!”
Even before it opened officially on Wednesday, the new playground at Sandy Creek Park elicited shouts and smiles of excitement and approval from the dozens of young people waiting somewhat patiently for Kent Kilpatrick, director of Athens-Clarke County’s Leisure Services Department, to cut the ribbon at the gate.
Once that was done, youngsters and their parents fanned quickly across the artificial turf to test out the playscape. Designed to allow all children, regardless of physical or other challenges, to enjoy a day at the park, the new playground features the pirate ship and other structures designed for wheelchair access.
But that’s far from all the features at the new playground designed to make it an inclusive space for children. Play structures include slides of varying length and steepness, drums and chimes for making music, a spinner mounted flush with the ground for easy access, plenty of shade structures and benches for resting or quiet play, and even a misting station for keeping cool on hot days.
The $925,000 project, funded with special-purpose local option sales tax dollars, was three years in the making, as Leisure Services staff and a “user group” of residents developed plans and selected a vendor.
According to Kilpatrick, the new playground had its origins with a playscape at the nearby Sandy Creek Nature Center that included accommodations for use by all youngsters.
But, Kilpatrick added, “We knew there was more we could do.”
From there, the user group and Leisure Services staff combined for what Kilpatrick, standing Wednesday at the edge of the new playground as youngsters and parents enjoyed it, called “a great process to get here.”
One of the people involved in that process was Christy Norton, a physical therapist whose 14-year-old son, Drew, is dealing with H-ABC leukodystrophy. The neurological condition produces motor problems, muscle and joint issues, and problems with coordination. There is no known cure for H-ABC leukodystrophy, which currently affects just 200 people across the globe, but treatment is available.
On Wednesday, as he was wheeled through the playground, Drew clearly was enjoying its features, including some time on the pirate ship as it rocked with the movement of its occupants.
Christy Norton said she and her husband, Jason, have taken Drew to other Athens-Clarke County playgrounds, but even those with some accommodations were difficult to use.
“We had to navigate a lot of obstacles and barriers,” Christy Norton said. And as Drew got older, she added, going to a playground “wasn’t a fun thing for any of us.”
The new playground at Sandy Creek Park is particularly important to her family, she said, because it “makes you feel like a part of the community.”
As part of her work with the playground user group, Norton polled various local parents’ groups for guidance on what they wanted in the playground. Working on the user group “was definitely a process,” she said. But, she quickly added, “I loved being a part of it.”
“This is something our community is craving,” Jason Norton said as he stood with his wife and son amid children rushing around the playground. Beyond accommodating people like his son, he continued, the new playground will help other youngsters “see them as just another kid.”
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