Playground Enables All Kids Access
By: Jenna Zibton
Updated: November 7, 2009
It's the first playground of it's kind in Louisiana, a boundless playground. It's taken dozens of volunteers and thousands of hours but the Shreveport project is almost finished.
"10 years ago there was nothing here but a swampy acre" Karen Gordon says motioning to the A.C. Steere Park Land. She is the founder and president of Right to Play.
Volunteers are installing the final phase of the Leaps and Bounds Playground for two to five year olds, putting in little slides, swing sets, spring sets and a little crawl tube. It's all part of a more than $600,000.
"I think it's fantastic. You know any kind of kid there is can come out here and use this park. Handicapped kids, little kids, bigger kids, you see everything out here" says James McGuirk who brought his child to play.
Completely wheelchair accessabile up to six feet high, the biggest cost goes into absorbable safety surfacing. It is softer than gravel or cement.
"These children that never had a place to actually play with their able bodied friends now have a place where they can all come and play together, family can play together, it's wonderful" says Gordon.
"The musical instruments are wonderful something they couldn't experience anywhere else" says Kelly Dushane who brought Jacob to play. He says "It's like instruments. Like you're playing in a band and it's loud." Organizers hope to eventually build a pavillion with handicap accessable picnic tables.
SPAR maintains the park, but they need volunteers to do things like pick up trash, paint and garden.
To find out more information visit www.righttoplay.org or call and leave a message at (318) 865-2763.
