Mesa unveils new all-abilities playground

The playground, with its bright-yellow zip lines, green dual swing and royal-blue ramps, was designed to be used by kids with disabilities and those without.

In the first hour it was open on a chilly Saturday morning, it showed its ability to entertain children without disabilities. Mesa officials were certain it would show its full potential in the coming days.

Officials gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday, surrounded by children with jackets, boots and gloves. The ceremony attracted mainly families of city parks employees, brought out so the playground at Dobson Ranch Park would be filled with children for reporters and television cameras. None was using a wheelchair.

“The big idea with this playground was bringing the kids together,” said Zac Koceja, landscape architect and project manager. “We didn’t want to just have a separate, secluded area of the playground where kids with special needs had to go to play. We wanted all of the kids to be able to play together.”

Popular attractions

This vision was brought to life by a series of disability-friendly attractions scattered throughout the playground, one of the most popular among families on Saturday being a 50-foot double zip line.

The zip line has a seat leading off of a lower ramp that allows children to easily move from their chair to the seat on the swing. The seat is equipped with a blue plastic safety harness, similar to those seen on rollercoasters, to secure children in place.

The toddler expression swing was another popular attraction. This is a swing that has a baby seat and a regular swing, so a child and parent can swing together, sitting face to face.

“I think it’s a great option for kids who need to be close to their mothers,” Mesa resident Christy Smith said. “Or if a child is scared, it’s a good way to ease them in.”

Learning while playing

Smith said she also really likes that the city implemented boards to encourage mental stimulation while the kids play. The boards help kids learn Braille, American Sign Language and other nonverbal communication skills.

“I really like that they have the boards for Braille and sign language,” she said. “Even if my kids are not deaf or blind, I love that they can begin to learn those languages so they can communicate with other kids who may struggle with those disabilities.”

Justin Murdock, chair of the Mesa Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, said this educational aspect of the playground is part of the city’s vision for innovation in their parks.

“The way we play in the playgrounds and the way playgrounds are now being developed is changing,” he said. “It’s no longer the traditional slides and swings, it’s challenging kids and using all of their senses, like touch, smell, balance and core.”

Murdock said he thinks it is important to take that into consideration when building playgrounds or even upgrading old ones.

“This playground is a great example of how play should be for the next generation,” he said. “No matter what your ability, kids should have equal opportunity for play, and this is a great example of it.”

The playground was aging and needed a boost anyway, Koceja said. Officials saw this as an opportunity to take initiative and create a play space that caters to all children, regardless of age or level of ability.

Community involvement

Mesa Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities Director Marc Heirshberg said that the community was very involved in the development of the new playground. The city reached out to families with disabilities, talked to professionals in the field to develop an adaptive play experience, and held public meetings to get feedback as the project advanced.

“We were making changes throughout the entire process,” he said. “We took into account the feedback we got from the community at the public meetings, but we were also changing things as we started building. We’d notice things that needed to be tweaked to ensure accessibility and change them as we went. This is such an important project for the community, so we wanted to make sure it was the best that it could be.”

The ribbon-cutting might have been timed more for media schedules than children’s play schedules. But city officials aren’t worried about attracting children with disabilities to the park.

“When families have children with special needs, they are willing to make the trip to meet those needs,” Koceja said. “We know that they will find it.”