FORT OGLE THORPE CUTS PLAYGROUND RIBBON

State-of-the-art playground is wheelchair-accessible

A crowd of parents, children and local dignitaries gathered the evening of Aug. 13 at Gilbert-stephenson Park in Fort Oglethorpe for a Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting to celebrate the new state-of-the-art playground that was approved by the City Council in May 2019 and has been under construction for nearly a year.

In spite of all the officials in attendance, the star of the ribbon-cutting was a very young lady named Emma. Emma took center stage in her wheelchair to snip a long ribbon with the giant pair of scissors always used for such occasions.

One of the features of the new playground is its accessibility to those in wheelchairs, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

After the ribbon-cutting, Emma took many trips down a sliding board made of rollers and played on other parts of the equipment, a grin on her face most of the time.

Fort Oglethorpe Mayor Earl Gray commented that the road to a finished playground had been long and challenging in the face of COVID-19 and the tornado that hit the city on April 12 this year.

While the tornado did not damage any of the playground equipment that was up at the time, says Fort Oglethorpe Parks and Recreation director Chris Simpson, it did damage and destroy many trees within the park, which consumed the time of city workers who had to clean it up.

The new playground should be a dream come true for many children in the area. There are all sorts of slides and climbing equipment, including a small rock-climbing wall with faux rocks. Slides range from traditional to tubes, from low to high, from straight to curved and from short to long.

Many of the slides are connected to one another by a maze of bridges and small, castle-like towers. Underneath, children can sit in the shade on soft, rubber-composite safety matting or on round, tot-sized seats and just hang out.

The park is a sound sensation, too. A giant xylophone really works and sits not far from an oversized set of three bongo drums. There’s a small piano built into the wall of the maze, as well as a giggle box that really giggles, and many other soundproducing features.

Then there are the swings — swings for tiny tots up to teens. There are swings with bucket seats for little ones and a standing board on the back for a parent. There are bucket swings without standing boards, toddler swings with a solid plastic bar that comes down like a Y-shaped seatbelt, nest swings and traditional swings.

There’s a four-person see-saw with molded plastic seats and handlebars that was popular the evening of the ribbon-cutting — and a rope-climbing maze that appealed to young people old enough to not like being called children.

Adults were not forgotten when the playground was planned. There is a separate area where grownups can climb, swing hand-over-hand and otherwise work out and have fun. Trapeze rings, parallel bars and a sit-up bench are all part of the adult section of the playground, too.

A group of teenage boys visiting on the evening of the ribboncutting were impressed. “I used to come here when I was a kid,” said one, “when there was that purple dinosaur slide.”

The dinosaur era of the playground at Gilbert-stephenson Park is over.

Tamara Wolk is a reporter for The Catoosa County News in Ringgold, Ga., and Walker County Messenger in Lafayette, Ga.

Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce The ribbon-cutting for the new playground in Fort Oglethorpe was conducted by the Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce and attended by officials and employees of Fort Oglethorpe and Catoosa County.

Tamara Wolk The central feature of the new playground in Fort Oglethorpe is a maze of sliding boards and bridges with activities built into the walls along the bridges.

Left:

Photos by Tamara Wolk Left: Emma, giant scissors at the ready, was the star of the Catoosa County Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting for the new playground in Fort Oglethorpe. The playground is handicap accessible for wheelchairs and is Americans With Disabilities Act compliant. Above: After cutting the ribbon from her wheelchair, she moved on to the important business of having fun.

Above: The new playground in Fort Oglethorpe is even musical, featuring a working giant xylophone. Below, Right: The new playground at Gilbert-stephenson Park includes a maze of slides and bridges children are thoroughly enjoying. Below, A four-seater see-saw is part of the new playground.

Left: There is something for everyone, young to old, at the newly equipped playground in Fort Oglethorpe. Above: The new playground features a separate area where adults can work out with trapeze rings, a sit-up bench, parallel bars and other equipment.