Accessible-playground design for ballpark unveiled
Riverside project ready to break ground in August
Designs for the largest accessible playground in Ontario were revealed Saturday at its future home, Riverside Baseball Park.
The playground is one part of the Farrow Riverside Miracle Park project to turn the former Riverside Arena site into an all-inclusive community hub. The park design includes a new pavilion, a fully accessible baseball diamond, and a bordering walking path with three workout stations. The existing baseball field will remain in its current location.
Mark Jones, regional manager at New World Park Solutions Inc. and designer of the new 13,000-squarefoot playground, said his goal was to make this playground the best. “It’s going to be one of a kind,” said Jones. “Whether you’re a child in a wheelchair, an adult in a wheelchair, an adult who just wants to play themselves, or any children, it’s going to be there for everyone, all ages, and all fitness levels.” Park project committee members chose Jones and his company to design, supply, and install the playground after a competitive decision process. Jones has an accessible-design certification, and has designed 15 accessible playgrounds in Windsor so far, including one at the John McGivney Children’s Centre.
The million-dollar playground will have over a dozen play structures and activities: a 40-foot-long “glide ride,” a “teeter-tunnel” that holds 14 people, a 12-foot tall slide through a 9,000-pound concrete baseball glove, and a “cozy cocoon” specially designed for children on the autism spectrum. Coverings over playground benches will provide shade for parents and caregivers. Jones, who has designed about 150 playgrounds locally, chose the highest grade of rubber available for the play surface, so it won’t fade in colour or degrade in harsh weather. Wheelchairs can move easily over the material.
Bill Kell, co-chairperson of the Farrow Riverside Miracle Park organizing committee, looks forward to the Aug. 8, 2018, groundbreaking event to start the construction project.
“This whole area is going to be transformed,” said Kell. “The neighbourhood is going to love it. We’re just so happy.”
Kell expects the park and diamond will be ready for playing by spring 2019.
Through donations, fundraising events, and large contributions from sponsors, the organization has raised about $2 million of the $2.5 million the project needs. Local businessman Rick Farrow committed $500,000 to the project in its infancy.
Kell said the committee is still looking for sponsors who want their names on some of the playground equipment.
The project also involves moving the cenotaph from its current spot near Riverside Centennial Pool back to a position of prominence. The new location proposed at the park entrance will have its own concrete walk-up for ceremonies. Tom Laporte, past president of Riverside Minor Baseball, said he’s been working toward the construction of the accessible park for years. He now sits on the Miracle Park organizing committee. “One of our mandates has always been to make sure the game of baseball was inclusive, so that everyone could play,” said Laporte. Laporte said Riverside Baseball will establish an accessible baseball league for children with disabilities to accompany the park’s completion.
“That league will be part of Riverside Baseball. In other words it won’t be separate, it will be all inclusive,” said Laporte. “If a child wants to play baseball, they come to Riverside, and they play whether they have a disability or not, so we’re very excited about that.” The flat, hard-surfaced Miracle Field diamond will allow wheelchairs to round bases without obstacle.
Miracle Park organizers received approval from council in June 2017 to go ahead with the project. Council went against the administration recommendation to sell the arena land for condos and commercial use. Prior to the deciding meeting, Kell led the effort to gather signatures in favour of keeping the land a park space.