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Chicago opens first fully inclusive playground on South Side
Chicago cut the ribbon Monday on its first fully inclusive playground, a 21,000-square-foot space at Midway Plaisance Park on the South Side built so children and adults of every ability can use the same equipment, side by side, for the first time in the city’s history.
CHICAGO - Chicago cut the ribbon Monday on its first fully inclusive playground, a 21,000-square-foot space at Midway Plaisance Park on the South Side built so children and adults of every ability can use the same equipment, side by side, for the first time in the city’s history.
The $4 million project was funded entirely by the Obama Foundation and designed to go beyond what the law requires. Most of the Chicago Park District’s more than 150 accessible playgrounds meet ADA minimum standards. This one was engineered to exceed them.
More than 520,000 Chicagoland residents live with a disability, according to city data. Until Monday, none of the city’s parks offered a playground built specifically with all of them in mind.
What’s inside the playground
The space spans three themed zones: Stone Creek, Musical Grove and Picnic Plaza. Features include ADA-accessible swings, a slide with a wheelchair transfer platform, a mud kitchen, a fragrance garden and sensory nooks designed for children who need a quieter space away from busier sections of the park.
What they're saying:
"Every child and every caregiver should have access to a space that supports exploration, imagination and fosters belonging," said Chicago Park District General Superintendent Carlos Ramirez-Rosa at the ribbon cutting.
Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett, who grew up near the park, said the project fulfills a commitment the foundation made to the surrounding community years ago.
"We’ve been proud to support the right of all children to have a fun place to play," Jarrett said.
A restored memorial
The project also restored the Cheney-Goode Memorial, a limestone bench on the same grounds dedicated in 1932 to two South Side women who helped secure voting rights for women in Illinois. Flora Sylvester Cheney and Katherine Hancock Goode were among just four Illinois women placed on the National League of Women Voters honor roll alongside Jane Addams and Susan B. Anthony.
What's next:
The playground sits at 1500-1600 Midway Plaisance North in Hyde Park, on land originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the architect behind New York’s Central Park.
The Obama Presidential Center opens June 19, directly across the street. City officials expect it to draw 900,000 visitors a year to Jackson Park.
The playground is now open to the public.
The Source: The information in this story was obtained and reported by FOX Chicago's Terrence Lee.