Playing on a playground is something you may have done growing up.
Swinging, doing the monkey bars, sliding down the slide.
Things that are second nature to most, are not always easy for other kids.
Saluda Shoals Park received an email from a woman who wished they had more equipment that would meet her wheelchair-confined son’s needs. That one email led to Saluda Shoals Park and the Irmo Chapin Recreation Commission to really think about what they currently have and what they don't.
Irmo Chapin Recreation Commission’s Executive Director Mark Smyers told us that this one email led to the inspiration for the design and idea of an all new inclusive playground: "It was one of those questions that caught fire and we just could not turn it down, couldn't look away. It was an undeniable movement that happened throughout [our] staff."
Smyers says they then reached out to their Saluda Shoals Foundation and presented the idea to them. "They were all about it, and it grew from maybe we could add some equipment to our current playground to lets look at something bigger."
Last fall, ICRC broke ground on the playground and is excited about all they accomplished. From a wheelchair accessible glider, to a interactive music area, you can tell that so much thought and care went into every aspect of the state-of-the-art area.
“There are so many wonderful things built into this playground. We tried really hard to think of every detail as we move throughout this whole area," Smyers explained, "All the way from the bathroom building with all the extra design built into it to meet the needs of the folks who just as simple as need to use the restroom."
The most important message of it all is its inclusiveness. Smyers says it would be a "disservice" to everything they've been trying to accomplish if this became just the "special needs playground."
“Everyone is welcome here," Smyers says, "Its not just about the folks with some type of special need, its actually a space for all users across the board. And we want to encourage play together. Its that inclusive mind set, that space where regardless of your abilities, its designed to try and meet you wherever you are.”
The playground itself is designed to be a reflection of the popular park. The main play area is on an "island" surrounded by the river, something Smyers hopes will get its visitors curious about the rest of what the park has to offer:
"I love that it’s a little microcosm of the park itself. The water elements, the bridge elements, the nature elements, we are trying to connect people to nature in this park and honestly I see this as a doorway to everything else we have.”
The entire playground was fund-raised by the Saluda Shoals Foundations, no dollars from the ICRC operating budget were used. Many donors donated time, money and energy to this playground and the ICRC is very thankful for it. "That message is really impactful too, its the community that's come together and said 'we want this, we want to make this happen,'" Smyers said.
Here are Mark's final thoughts:
"I think the message that isn't necessarily out there is at the end of all of this, we're going to have a really awesome space, its going to be amazing. But, the process that we've gone through and the people who have been involved all along the way has also really been amazing. We are where we are right now, because a lot of people and answered that question that started with that email: What are we going to do? How are we going to meet these needs? The community has come together to answer that question. This is what we're going to do."
The grand opening of this new park will be on August 24th. Stay tuned for more details on that.
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