BENTONVILLE -- Changes made to the inclusive playground planned for Citizens Park put the project within the city's budget, allowing construction to start later this year, according to Parks and Recreation Director David Wright.
All of the city's playgrounds are compliant with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, but the inclusive playground will go beyond what the law requires, Wright said.
Web watch
More information on the inclusive playground planned for Citizens Park at the Bentonville Community Center can be found on the Parks and Recreation website at www.playbentonville….
Source: Staff report
An inclusive playground is one that "goes beyond minimum accessibility to create play experiences that meet a variety of needs and interests," according to Landscape Structures, a playground equipment company based in Minnesota.
The playground at Citizens Park will have ramps instead of steps. Slides will have two lanes so parents can ride down with their child. A rubber floor will allow easy mobility for those using wheelchairs.
The city was about $300,000 short of being able to pay for the inclusive playground and had planned to fund raise to make up the difference.
Modifying the design by adjusting types of materials for different features took the estimated cost from more than $700,000 to $425,000, Wright said.
A more traditional playground costs closer to $200,000, according to parks and recreational officials in the region.
The city will pay for about $300,000 of the project. The remaining cost will be covered by $100,000 that the Advertising and Promotions Commission offered and $25,000 raised by the Lions Club.
"The key to this is that it's not a playground for kids with special needs. It's a playground for everybody," Wright said. "But it serves the kids with special needs better than other playgrounds we have."
An inclusive playground encourages playful interaction between children of all abilities, removing barriers between children of different abilities, he said.
"It makes our entire community more inclusive," said Kathy Breed, co-founder of Play with Passion, a local organization that offers outings that provide fitness programming for children with special needs.
An inclusive playground will provide a resource for physical and social development for kids as well provide a space of support and communication for parents, she said.
"As much as there's need for resources and programming for kids with special needs, there's also that whole community piece, and that's where it all comes together in a space like this," she said of the inclusive playground.
Rogers also plans to build an inclusive playground in the new 77-acre Mt. Hebron Park in the city's west side, according to Ben Cline, city spokesman. Rogers doesn't have an inclusive playground.
Members of the Parks and Recreation staff visited other cities across the country to scope out inclusive playgrounds, Cline said, adding the plan is to have one of the region's largest in Rogers.
"The goal is to have a very large playground where children of all abilities can play together," he said. "It's something we're excited to do."
The whole cost of Mt. Hebron Park is estimated at $15 million, which will be paid with bond money, but it's too soon to know the price tag for the inclusive playground, Cline said.
Voters approved a $299.5 million bond issue in August that included $41 million for parks and recreation. The park, which will also include open space, sports fields and a pond, is scheduled to be finished in 2021.
About 12.6 percent of the country's population has a disability, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The number increases to 17.1 percent when looking at Arkansas' population.
A 2018 poll conducted by the National Recreation and Parks Association found 70 percent of Americans believe having play options to accommodate children with all abilities is "extremely" or "very important" and more than 90 percent of parents believe communities should provide inclusive playground equipment.
"There are a lot of people who are saying we need to do better than just the ADA," said Tony Malkusak, a landscape architect consultant with Abundant Playscapes in Iowa. The firm specializes in designing inclusive play environments.
The American with Disabilities Act was more about removing barriers for "brick-and-mortar type buildings," Malkusak said, explaining it left those in the parks and recreation and play industries with questions about how to make play structures more available to those with different abilities.
The shift in accessibility compliance with the law to more inclusivity began to take place in the mid- to late-1990s with the seven principles of universal design, he added.
But one of the challenges with implementing more inclusive playgrounds has been the cost of materials and equipment, Malkusak said. Often times an inclusive playground will be a destination amenity where people will come from a distance to use.
They often will be funded with partnerships and be larger in scale, he said.
The Springdale Rotary Club partnered with the city and other contributors to build the Rotary Adventure Park about six years ago. The park is part of the Randall Tyson Recreational Complex on Watkins Avenue.
It was designed with inclusive features, such as ramps and sensory play panels.
"Every time I go by there, someone is on it," said Zach Walls, assistant operations manager with Springdale Parks and Recreation.
Fayetteville's playgrounds are all barrier-free, but some are more inclusive than others, said Kevin Eastin, parks planner.
"There's just different levels of accessibility," he said. "What we would consider a fully inclusive facility would be one that ... is open to active and imaginative play regardless of what your ability levels may be."
Eastin cited the playground at Wilson Park as one of the city's most inclusive with its rubber ground under the equipment and ramps to access different features.
The next playground project will likely be at Gulley Park. Final plans aren't finished, but the city's goal is to make it as inclusive as possible, he said.
NW News on 02/25/2019