Accessible North Canton Playground attracts crowds, wins state award
NORTH CANTON − Eleven-year-old Brayden Bachman faces a high risk of hurting himself on most playgrounds.
He has cerebral palsy and wears a leg brace.
The ladders to get up a slide often have rungs that are too small for him. The space at the top of the slide is insufficient. The ground often isn't level so he faces a higher chance of falling. And for him to use monkey bars is out of the question.
"He wants to do the same thing as anyone else like his sister but he physically cannot," said his father Aaron Bachman of Osnaburg Township. "When you have a special-needs child there's not as many opportunities afforded to them. Because not everyone considers their needs when they're planning and doing things."
Related:North Canton's inclusive playground to open April 23
Related:North Canton's Dogwood Park to get $1.75M remodel, new inclusive playground
Aaron Bachman and his wife Shannyn heard last year about North Canton's Possibility Playground at Dogwood Park that opened in late April. They drove the 20 minutes from home with their children to check it out.
Most of the playground area around the equipment has an even thick level plastic surface, so his son is less likely to fall. The slides comes with stairs at a more gradual incline that Braydon can climb. The ladders have bigger rungs. And the equipment has hand holds that are easier for Braydon to grab.
All the equipment — from the slides to the merry-go-round to the playhouse — is designed to be accessible to children with special needs, including those with wheelchairs.
"He doesn't have to hear me tell him, 'No you can't do that,' ... nearly as much as on a normal playground," Aaron Bachman said. "To be able to go somewhere (a special-needs child) can be included is amazing."
As Possibility Playground approaches its first anniversary next month, parents and children have been giving the playground rave reviews with how accessible it is for children with a wide range of disabilities.
The playground also was recognized earlier this year by the Ohio Parks and Recreation Association as the park project having the most significant impact on quality of life throughout the state last year. North Canton received the association's annual Governor's Award.
The other two finalists were Columbus Recreation and Parks' LiFEsports Summer Camp and Erie Metroparks' Nature on Wheels education program.
"It's crowded every single day all summer. Even on days it would rain. Even on cold days. And they're bundled up and playing. It has been so incredibly popular," said Catherine Farina, deputy director of administration and parks development for North Canton. "Nobody else in the area has an adaptive park like this.”
What does the Possibility Playground feature?
The dozen pieces of equipment were made by the Wisconsin-based company BCI Burke and sold through Snider Recreation in North Royalton.
Farina pointed at the flat green synthetic surface with a soft rubberized padding underneath that covers much of the 12,500-square-foot playground, making it accessible for wheelchairs.
The playground has a safety fence to keep children from wandering off, which children with autism can be prone to do. The zero-grade glider merry-go-round is level with the ground so children with wheelchairs can use it.
"And then you have children with handicaps and children without handicaps playing together," Farina said. "So that's the idea of inclusion. Everybody's playing together. This has been widely popular. They love it."
The playground also has adaptive swings well suited for children with poor core muscle control and connection swings that parents and children can use together sitting face to face. That can help parents work to develop joint attention with children with autism. Possibility Playground also has a spinner with back supports. A little playhouse is wide enough for a wheelchair.
One of the large pieces of equipment for children ages 5 to 12 features a wide double slide and curvy triple slide, rope climbers and a bridge with wheelchair ramps with handrails that lead to a see-saw-like rocker that can accommodate children with wheelchairs.
The playground also has a popular zipline with an attachment to the rope that you can sit on while moving to the other platform. The park also has a new pavilion.
The equipment has green and brown colors to match the surrounding woods. The playground even comes with a xylophone instrument and drums that children can play, especially children with autism desiring an auditory sensory experience.
A phone call launched the playground project
Farina said the project came about because of a phone call she received in 2017.
The mother, who has a son who uses a wheelchair, asked if North Canton had a playground that was accessible for her son. Many playgrounds had mulch as a surface, making them inaccessible for children who used wheelchairs.
Farina said Brian Hill, the city's parks superintendent, told her that except for Whitwer Park having an adaptive swing, none of the city's nine parks had adaptive or accessible playground equipment. It had been more than 20 years since North Canton had done a major upgrade of any of its parks.
She said then-Mayor David Held, who has a child with special needs, and city administrator Patrick DeOrio approved her seeking a grant to build an adaptive playground at the former site of an ice rink at Dogwood Park, which is at 345 Seventh St. NE.
It took her a few years to line up the money. Amid the pandemic, the city hired architect Brandstetter Carroll in Cleveland to design the playground and construction commenced late in 2020 and went through 2021. Delays in getting supplies such as pipes for the planned restroom and other equipment pushed completion of the project into spring 2022.
Related:North Canton plans park transformation
The playground equipment, purchased through a government cooperative agreement to cut expenses, ended up costing about $500,000 as part of a $1.8 million project to upgrade Dogwood Park, said Farina.
Sources of the funding included grants from state programs; AEP's foundation which paid for the playground high-efficiency lighting; the Hoover Foundation, which gave $250,000; Dynergy; Energy Harbor and donations by several individuals. Bruce Conery, for example, donated $16,500 in honor of his late wife, a special education teacher, that funded the installation of therapeutic swings, said Farina. She added that Akron Children's Hospital has donated $250,000 to fund the construction of a children's performance stage at the playground next year.
Attracting many kids
On a chilly afternoon in February, Emily Moreland of Louisville was with 4-year-old son Jonathan at the playground.
"We love this playground. This is one of our favorite playgrounds. There's a lot of things to do with your imagination here," said Moreland.
Jonathan loved to push himself off on the zip line.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! I'm taking off," he said.
"Thank you for building this playground," Jonathan later told Farina who was visiting the park.
Stephen Burns, 38, of Plain Township was at the playground with his 5-year-old daughter Sydney.
"It's a fantastic playground," he said, adding that he and Sydney started visiting soon after it opened. "She's really engaged when she comes here. She comes and meets friends. ... This newer equipment is nicer. I'm not worried about her tearing her clothes or pinching her finger."
Angie Denning, who was at the playground with her 8-year-old daughter Alaina, praised the plastic surface.
"It's beautiful. I like the turf," said Denning, who lives in Lake Township. "This is a gem."
Kate Chaney is an intervention specialist at Rebecca Stallman Southgate School in Canton Township for high school-age children with special needs. She said she brought her seven students to the playground on a field trip last fall.
Chaney was impressed with how accessible the playground was, noting that it was fenced off to prevent any of her students from wandering off, the zipline had a seat so her students with cerebral palsy could use it and that her students in wheelchairs could use the merry-go-round.
"I just wish there were more playgrounds like that," she said. "It's definitely very inclusive."
Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. Twitter: @rwangREP.
This article originally appeared on The Repository: North Canton's Possibility Playground is attracting kids
