AJC article- City looks at special playground

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Today in the AJC is an article about the City of Atlanta wanting to build a boundless playground for all the children.

Heidi Fernandez

City looks at special playgroundBy CRAIG SCHNEIDERThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 12/30/04

Atlanta officials say they want to establish a playground in the city specifically geared toward handicapped children.

These sites, called boundless playgrounds, have been gaining popularity across the nation, with about 70 of them popping up in recent years. But Atlanta has yet to see its first, officials say.

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"The city has a great interest in seeing a boundless playground established," said city Parks Commissioner Dianne Harnell Cohen.

The city is in the early stages of seeking a site and funding, she said. The state has a plan to place one in Centennial Olympic Park, she said, and one recently opened in Dallas, Ga.

"A boundless playground allows total equality of play," Cohen said, allowing children with and without handicaps to play together.

Handicapped children often feel left out at a playground, advocates say, and many of them feel inferior because they can't use the swings or head into the sandbox. These difficulties keep them from connecting with other children.

Boundless playgrounds, Cohen said, "invite inclusively, not exclusivity."

More than just being accessible to the handicapped, these playgrounds have specially designed rides and attractions for handicapped children. A blind child can be entertained with tactile playthings such as wooden animals. Autistic children can find a quiet corner to escape if they become overstimulated. Children with back problems can use special high-back swings with seat belts, and those in wheelchairs can take their wheelchair onto a large glider-swing.

Finding the perfect place for a boundless playground has proved to be no easy task, officials said. Parks officials had been exploring a site near Freedom Park, but it was too small. Officials are now talking about including one in the north woods expansion of Piedmont Park.

Funding is another big hurdle. While the city is willing to provide the land and help with the planning, the construction costs almost certainly must come from fund raising, officials said.

These sites tend to need more space than customary playgrounds, and they can cost almost twice as much. Cohen expects a price tag between $300,000 and $750,000.

A coalition of advocates for boundless playgrounds is building in Atlanta. Among them is Tally Sweat, president of the Olmsted Linear Park Alliance, a group committed to preserving green spaces along Ponce de Leon Avenue.

Sweat was inspired after seeing the boundless playground in Dallas. "It was exciting," she said of seeing children play there. "It opens up another world for an awful lot of children who do not have that opportunity in Atlanta."

Sweat said she plans on working closely with other advocates to create a boundless playground.