Despite the calendar reading December this week, area children have had the chance to play outdoors in 50-degree temperatures, including taking the opportunity to run, swing and slide at their new all-accessible playground that was completed this fall at Mary Rutan Park.
The idea for the Come Play at the Peak playground that would enable students with disabilities to play alongside their peers was initiated in early 2017 by Bellefontaine Intermediate School students in the Dare to Be Aware Club, as previously detailed in the Examiner.
Former BIS Dare to Be Aware member Jack Varner said during the park’s grand opening celebration in October that when he was fifth-grader, he became concerned for pupils with disabilities who were not able to play with their classmates on the playground at recess.
“It made me sad to see them left out,” said the Bellefontaine Middle School eighth-grader, who is a son of Luke and Sarah Varner. “My older brother is autistic and in the past, I had been upset that I wasn’t able to play with him on the playground as well.
“That is why I love Logan County.”
The new Come Play at the Peak playground replaces the former wooden and aging Kaleidoscope Playground that was built in 1995.
To make their dreams of the new playground a reality, the club members pitched their idea in 2017 to the Bellefontaine Joint Recreation District and the Logan County Board of Developmental Disabilities Board. After gathering support from those organizations, fundraising efforts began in a variety of ways in the community, one of the Dare to Be Aware Club advisers Tracy Gregg said.
Bellefontaine Joint Recreation District Superintendent Kris Myers said at the grand opening that he remembers one of the presentations to the park board.
“One of the students said, ‘I want to see the smile on a kid’s face when they get to play on the playground and they haven’t been able to before.’ There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.”
In addition to Jack, other members of the Dare to Be Aware Club that spearheaded the project included Samantha Hall, Michelle Roberts, Tyler Bond, Aiden Kunze, Charles “Chuckie” Roberts, Mason Stanley, Garrett Prater, Elaina Ullom, Eleyna Williams, Olivia Turner, Emma Crabtree, Hailey Coyer, Chase Nelson, Hunter Kerns, Tahleyah Mundy, Lily Gillette and Anthony Puckett.
During March, construction and outdoor management students from the Ohio Hi-Point Career alongside staff from the Bellefontaine Joint Parks and Recreation District began tearing down the former Kaleidoscope Park equipment.
“I’m sure it’s a sad for some to see Kaleidoscope Park come down after all these years,” Myers said at that time, “but it’s exciting because what’s going in is something that every child can play on and enjoy.”
Heavy spring and early summer rains and flooding delayed the construction of the new playground, but the facility opened in October for area children to enjoy. The new outdoor facility includes climbing structures, slides and bridges, along with a large canopy to shield youths from the elements. One of the unique elements is an AeroGlider, a giant glider that can accommodate a child in a wheelchair, along with additional children.
The safety surfacing of the playground is a turf surface with foam underneath that aligns with fall cushioning standards, Myers said.
Sheri Walbright, an occupational therapist for the Champaign-Madison Educational Service Center, was involved in helping to design the healthy play environment for the children. During the ground breaking ceremony, she referenced all of the activity and excitement from the children going on in front of her on their new play equipment.
“Look at these kids; it’s so amazing,” she said. “Some of the important aspects that this playground will offer includes meeting social and sensory needs that we all have. Playing has been depleted from our lives in some ways, and this is a developmental need that all children have.”
A number of project donors were recognized during the ceremony and largest donors who received plaques included: Honda Transmission Manufacturing, the United Way of Logan County, the Mary Rutan Foundation, Logan County Board of Developmental Disabilities and in-kind donations for the play space from Alexander Concrete and LeVan’s Excavating.