Fundraiser for special needs playground set for Oct. 3
By Jackie Iddings
Atascadero is to be home to the first special needs playground on the Central Coast
– Colony Park Community Center in Atascadero is set to be the first special needs playground in San Luis Obispo County. The new playground will be designed to stimulate imagination, promote acceptance and will be fully accessible and all-inclusive, regardless of what a child’s physical or cognitive abilities might be.
The community is invited to a day of free entertainment and local vendors at the “Kids Day and Family Expo” on Oct. 3, at Atascadero Sunken Gardens. A feature of the day is the $5,000 Dunk Tank Challenge. If $5,000 has been raised by the morning of the expo, Atascadero Mayor Tom O’Malley and Police Chief Jerel Haley have volunteered to be the first dropped into the dunk tank. More community leaders have lined up to be dunked throughout the day. All of the money raised goes to support the new playground. Donations to the challenge can be made through the “Parents For Joy” GoFundMe campaign.
According to Sarah Sullivan, spokesperson for Parents for Joy, the only other special needs playground is over 100 miles away, in Salinas. According to Sullivan, there are many playgrounds that accommodate special needs children, but these playgrounds may only have a few pieces of suitable play equipment.
“When we travel, we always look for special needs playgrounds,” she said. “We get there to find there is only one swing or one slide with a ramp that is actually special needs play equipment.” The playground is completely dedicated to special needs children. The playground will be fully fenced with only one entrance gate to protect children with special needs who tend to “elope” or run away and don’t understand dangers like traffic.
The playground is the brainchild of a group of women discussing the need for a safe and special playground for their children. The idea grew and in May 2013 Sullivan found herself accompanying some of the other mothers to Atascadero City Hall to present their idea to the city council. The city offered them an 1100 square foot space at Colony Park provided they could raise the funds to install and maintain the playground. Since then, community organizations such as the Kiwanis, Rotary Club, the Optimist International, and the Moose Lodge and Elks Lodge have joined the fundraising efforts.
The play equipment and playground design is by GameTime, a full-service playground development company located in Alabama. Sullivan said the total budget is $750,000 and some of that has already been raised through a matching $100,000 grant from GameTime, donations for local service clubs and individual donations. Parents for Joy in partnership with Parents Helping Parents is also actively seeking grants.
The future location at Colony Park.
The play areas will be covered with Poured-In-Place rubber surfacing, an ADA compliant material, and all of the walkways and ramps will be ADA-compliant as well. Shaded areas are provided and drinking fountains and ADA-compliant restrooms are only feet away in the Colony Park Community Center.
The playground is also sponsored by Parents Helping Parents and United Cerebral Palsy of San Luis Obispo; both organizations are providing resources for Parents for Joy to operate as a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit.
Parents for Joy is an all volunteer organization and all of the fundraising proceeds go directly toward the new playground.
The first phase of the project has been completed. The playground design has been approved by city council and Parents for Joy is waiting for the permits. Sullivan states, “We can’t give a ground-breaking date just yet as the city wants us to have most of the money raised before doing any construction.”
Once the playground is constructed, the city will take over maintenance and management. Parents for Joy will then be responsible to fund an ongoing maintenance account that will be dedicated to playground improvements and maintenance expenses.
Each piece of playground equipment was chosen with a purpose, including a few special pieces that can accommodate adults who might also want to play. The main feature will be an accessible tree house with slides and fun panels. Other equipment includes the Rock ‘N Raft that seats six and accommodates a wheel chair, a merry-go-round for up to 12 children, with four seats with seat belts, stainless steel slides that eliminate static for children with cochlear implants, and 12 swings. The swings include two standard belt swings, two infant/tot wings, two special swings with a max weight limit of 250 lbs, four Zero-G swings with harness system to help keep a child or adult upright and safe, and an Arch Swing that can accommodate lots of children. Other equipment includes a Whirlin’ Robin Egg, a Dragonfly teeter-totter, logs, vine climbers, leave spinners and a mushroom table and toadstools.
More information about the play equipment and the project is available on the web site: www.parentsforjoy.org.
