Inclusive playground opens in Central Park

Grinnell’s Parks & Recreation Department (P&R) celebrated the opening of a new all-inclusive playground in Central Park with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Wednesday, Nov. 6, a day after it was declared officially ready for use. Jordan Allsup, director of the P&R, said the event was organized in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce and drew roughly 50 attendees from local organizations and the community.

Plans to upgrade the park’s existing playground into a more accessible design were first announced in March 2023. Proposed features included full wheelchair accessibility, communication boards with sign language and an interactive dance and play arch.

Allsup said that $280,000 was raised in the spring to fund the project, which officially began construction in September. 

Major donors included the College, Grinnell Mutual, 100 People Who Care, the Merlin and Verna Manett Family Foundation and other private donors. RDG Planning and Design had been hired to design the layout and the playground was completed through commercial playground equipment supplier Cunningham Recreation and its subcontractors.

The idea to improve the Central Park playground arose in summer 2021 when a community member told Parks and Recreation that her grandchild, a wheelchair user, could not access public play spaces.

“When she started talking, my heart started sinking more and more,” said Russ Crawford, chair of the Parks and Recreation Board. “Grandparents want to take their grandkids to the playground.”

Crawford said it soon became the Board’s “number one mission” to bring an all-inclusive playground to life so “brothers and sisters can play together,” adding that he and his wife had donated a significant amount themselves.

Allsup said what he liked about the new playground was that each piece of equipment had unique play features that also tied into different aspects of sensory play. “Kids are able to use their imaginations and play in their own world,” he said.

Crawford described the opening ceremony as wonderful, grand and over-the-top.

Someone stands below the dance and play arch in Central Park’s inclusive playground. (Julia Marlin)

“I didn’t realize that many people would show up,” he said. “A lot of contributors came, that was special. It was fun to see everyone come together, embrace each other and understand how passionate we were about getting this done.”

“It was a project that really warmed the hearts of people,” said Allsup. “We all wanted to make it happen.”

Moving forward, Allsup said that Grinnell Parks and Recreation probably would not install all-inclusive playgrounds for every park, but have “inclusive aspects built in to make sure that we’re hitting all populations of children that utilize these play spaces.” 

He added that a new 10-year Parks and Recreation Master Plan for the city of Grinnell is being developed, with Parks and Recreation starting the process of gathering public input next month.

“The more we invest in Grinnell, the better it is for everybody,” said Crawford. “15 percent of the kids in our lives have some sort of disability. We need to make sure we take care of those kids.”