New park and accessible play area! (June 15)
You may remember some of our blog posts from two years ago about organizing to make our neighborhood park more accessible. Well, at the beginning of June, the newly renovated Mt. Baker Park was officially opened for play, and Lucas’s statement after his first foray says it all: “I don’t like it… I loovveee it!”
A week after it was opened the city held a public ribbon cutting ceremony and invited Krista to speak. Unfortunately it was during a yoga class that she teaches, and also right in the middle of the school day, so neither Krista or Lucas (the two heroes of the accessibility changes made to the park) could be present. So Ida and I stepped up on their behalf and spoke at the ceremony. In particular, we highlighted the fact that just because a park is more friendly for kids with disabilities didn’t mean that it’s less fun for kids without disabilities. To the contrary, the accessibility changes make it a better place for all.
Many of you blog readers wrote to the city in an effort to pressure them to craft an accessible play area that went beyond basic ADA requirements. In particular, Krista’s draft letter called for:
- Paved or hard-packed rubber pathways from sidewalks to the play equipment
- Hard-packed rubber surfaces as at least part of the surface under play equipment
- Ramps up onto the play equipment so that people who cannot climb stairs can play with family, friends, and peers
- Accessible swings, including a bucket swing
- Components on the play structures that are designed specifically for wheelchair users and non-disabled children to play together, such as the Sway-Fun glider.
We’re happy to say that almost all of these things are present in the new park. Still, the truth is that the new play area is far from perfect, with some bark dust in places that makes it hard to get around in a wheelchair, only one actually play structure that you can roll right on to, and then of course there’s the newly sanitized zip line (which was the biggest point of contention in the public meetings, but not because of anything to do with accessibility.)
But none of that seemed to bother Lucas. In our first visit to the park he was overjoyed to check out all the new structures and swings, and we’ve been back multiple times since then. We’re proud of our role in the new Mt. Baker park look forward to hanging out with Seattle-area friends there this summer!
