City Dedicates Play 4 All Boundless Playground
More than 300 people were on hand to help celebrate as members of City Council and Mayor Haidous dedicated the Play 4 All Boundless Playground at Soroptimist Park on Sept 17th. Also participating in the festivities were: Robert A. Ficano, Wayne County Executive; Kevin McNamara, Wayne County Commissioner; Any Jaffe Barzach, Boundless Playgrounds Founder; Thomas M. Woiwode, Director, GreenWays Initiative Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan; and, Mark Hall, Regional Manager, CVS Michigan.
“The park is one of but a handful of outstanding new concept facilities in the U.S,” said John J. Zech, City Manager, City of Wayne. “The park’s significance is what the Play 4 All Boundless™ Playground at Soroptimist Park means for children with special needs, their guardians, other able 
bodied children and their parents, as well as what it says about our City and who we are.”
Continued Zech, “Through the new Soroptimist Park, we’ve extended “opportunity” without limits to a group of people who were previously denied a fair shot at life’s bounty. That says a lot of good things about the people who call Wayne their home.”
“In a larger sense, the City of Wayne is a place of interaction and Boundless Opportunities,” said Zech. “It's where we live, play and work together, side-by-side, taking advantage of the opportunities, which our ancestors labored to bring to life for themselves and their children. And, as our parent’s children, it’s now our turn to create new opportunities, adding to the bounty we’ve enjoyed through our lives.”
Kimberly J. Alexander, Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, played a major role in making this dream come true. She explained the project in these words, “Since this playground was completed in July it has been filled with children and their parents and guardians. I’ve personally witnessed fathers and mothers with their children here at all hours of the day using the facilities and truly having fun together in ways that no other facility can provide.”
“Play 4 All Boundless™ Playground at Soroptimist Park surpasses the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility guidelines,” said Alexander. “All children regardless of ability are now able to do more than simply access a playground… they are interacting with one another… and playing side-by-side with their peers.”
Wayne community volunteers and the Wayne Parks and Recreation Department built the new park. Their labors were the capstone to more than two years of planning and fundraising efforts in which they secured over $370,000 in funding from a variety of sources, including: the Wayne County Commission, the State of Michigan through the Federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, the Community Foundation for Southeastern Michigan, CVS Caremark Corporation, the Wayne Rotary Club, and the Association for Retarded Citizens for Western Wayne County.
Over June 12th, 13th and 14th and under the direction of six supervisors, 350 volunteers, many of whom were CVS employees and family, unwrapped, organized and assembled hundreds of parts.
Nationally, an estimated six million children – more than one in ten – have a disability that makes it difficult or impossible to play on a traditional playground. Adults with disabilities also face difficulties playing with their children and grandchildren.
Today there are more than 125 Boundless™ playgrounds in the United States and Canada enabling millions of families and children with and without disabilities to play together.
Along with the Boundless Playground organization, the City of Wayne shares the belief that if children of all abilities play and learn together, their shared joy and common experience will make a more lasting impression than their different abilities; they will grow up to be adults who celebrate diversity and welcome people of all backgrounds and abilities into their personal and professional lives.
How is a Boundless™ playground different from a traditional or an accessible playground?
Most people wouldn’t be able to tell a Boundless™ playground from any other playground at first glance, but the difference would be apparent to someone with a disability. They would see how the Boundless Playgrounds layout includes them in the fun – how it is possible to get to the highest play deck to feel like king or queen of the hill and enjoy gathering with friends in cozy spots.
They might also see that a Boundless™ playground goes beyond accessibility for people with physical disabilities to consider the needs of children with different developmental, cognitive and sensory disabilities as well.
Based in Bloomfield, Conn., Boundless Playgrounds is the leading national nonprofit developer of inclusive playgrounds where children, with and without disabilities, gain the important developmental benefits of unstructured play. Boundless Playgrounds is committed to full compliance with the minimum requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the playground industry. Boundless Playgrounds then goes beyond minimum requirements, incorporating universal design practices and child development theories into their standards, plus recommending additional best practices and enhancements.
Playground equipment is carefully selected and laid out in configurations that are fun, rigorous and challenging for children of all abilities. Strategic placement of rubber surfacing allows for ease of travel within the environment. While special equipment is selected for certain activities (like swings and spring toys with back supports), many differences are subtle. The ultimate goal is to provide what Boundless Playgrounds calls “the Essence of Play” – fun things to do, fun places to be and everyone in the center of play.
For more information about Boundless Playgrounds, visit: www.boundlessplaygrounds.org.
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