An inclusive playground is coming to Queeny Park in St. Louis County next spring. The $2.4 million playground is designed to be accessible for kids and guardians who have a disability.
The Teddy and Friends Unlimited Play Playground will feature soft rubber floors, ramps and special equipment like saucer swings so children with physical limitations can safely and independently play.
“It is very custom designed, and a kid without limitations is going to be able to join as well,” said Erin Gooch, a west St. Louis County resident spearheading the project.
The board game-themed playground is being built in honor of her son Teddy. Gooch said most playgrounds are not designed for her 8-year-old and other kids with disabilities.
“When we're on a noninclusive playground, I'm helping him lift, helping him get on and off things, holding his hand, propping him up to get up the steps safely,” she said in a St. Louis on the Air interview last August. “It's a lot of work for both of us, and we normally leave exhausted, physically and mentally.”
Gooch collaborated with Unlimited Play, a St. Peters based nonprofit that designed this playground and over 20 others in Missouri. For over a year, Gooch and Unlimited Play have been raising funds for the project. St. Louis County donated the land, and many of the donations came from private donors and grants.
There is increasing interest and demand for accessible playgrounds, said Adam Bowman, director of programming for Unlimited Play.
"The power of play is so incredible that why would we want to exclude anyone from that?” Bowman said. “There's just a magical aspect of seeing a playground that allows for children of all abilities, whether in a wheelchair or or just a child who has a lot of energy and wants to run, climb and play, all being able to play together, side by side.”
The original playground at Queeny Park, completed in 1974, featured tunnels and rock-climbing slopes. Many residents are nostalgic about the now-condemned playground, said Chuck Nielsen, director of operations for Unlimited Play.
To preserve some of the original design, the new playground will retain about 20 feet of the angled climbing rocks, he added.
“People that grew up here loved climbing on those rocks and didn't want to see them all go away, so we negotiated and met him halfway, and we said we'll keep portions of that so that we're tying in the past with the future,” Nielsen said.
Work crews are demolishing the old playground this week, with donated labor and equipment from St. Louis-based construction company Budrovich. Construction crews will then work on draining lines, grading and footing for walls.
When it gets warmer again in early spring, poured-in-place rubber surfacing will go in. That flooring is used in place of mulch or gravel, allowing children using wheelchairs to ride more smoothly. The project also is seeking an additional $300,000 to install more fencing and a splash pad.
“An inclusive playground that will allow kids with disabilities to have parallel play with kids that don't have those same challenges — that's what this park is going to provide. It's going to provide an amazing play experience for everyone and accessibility for everyone,” Nielsen said.
