The Optimist Club of Ft. Wayne, Indiana donated $40,000 to the city's parks and recreation department to build a Boundless Playground in their community. That sounds like a whopping sum, and it is, but the playground is expected to cost $1.3 M. Yes, you read that right.So what makes a playground worth so much money? Please take a look at the architectural rendering of this 42,000 sq. ft. playground. A spokesperson for the Ft. Wayne Parks and Recreation Department says, "Fort Wayne's Boundless Playground at Kreager Park will have three pods of playground equipment and activity areas, a sprayground, accessible ramps and walkways, a picnic pavilion and accessible parking. Landscaping will add to the sensory experience of the facility as will the multiple types of surface used in the various pods, including sand, poured-in-place rubber, mulch and natural turf."
Now let me tell you what a Boundless Playground will do. It is a playground not only for children of all physical abilities, but also those who suffer from sensory disregulation, vision and hearing impairments, autism, and cognitive and mental deficits. Best of all, it is designed to encourage children of all abilities to play together rather than in separate areas of the park.
The Boundless Playground project started as dream of a 14-year girl, Taylor Reuille. Her dream is a public one and you can read all about it at taylorsdream.com. She put her dream into a website, shared it with the Ft. Wayne Parks and Recreation Department, shared it with the community and together they went on to collect a $70,000 Pepsi Refresh grant. Now with donations and grants they have raised more than $1 M and the groundbreaking took place on September 30. The whole community is looking forward to a spring 2011 opening.
Now that my friends is optimism at its finest.
Photo credit: Ft. Wayne Parks and Recreation Department