Officials excited for inclusive playground
Groundbreaking likely to happen in fall; township chipped in $300K for project
Clinton Township plans to break ground this fall on Macomb County’s first Inclusive Playground to accommodate children with physical and intellectual disabilities now that $1.4 million in funding is in place.
Township officials say they have enough money through a combination of grants, fundraisers, and township funds to pay for the structure at the Civic Center on Romeo Plank Road at Canal Road.
“This is more than we expected,” said Paul Gieleghem, the township treasurer who has led the fundraising effort. “Once people on the committee came together, the community responded in a positive way.”
While the playground may be for every youngster, it will contain special features focusing on special need kids, such as wheelchair ramps, shaded areas, quiet zones, Braille boards and sign language boards.
Organizers said the playground will be built near the main Clinton-Macomb Public Library, where it will serve everyone equally, including the 4,600 people in Clinton Township who have intellectual and physical disabilities.
It will be Macomb County’s second inclusive playground. The first opened in 2021 in River Bends Park on 22 Mile Road in Shelby Township.
The Clinton Township’s Board of Trustees last week approved several measures relating to the playground.
Most critical was a move to allocate $300,000 in budget contingency funds for infrastructure to the playground project. That will make up the shortfall in the $1 million in a state grant combined with $100,000 in donated funds and the total cost according to Supervisor Bob Cannon.
State funds were secured by state Rep. Denise Mentzer, D-Mount Clemens, and state Sen. Veronica
Klinefelt, D-Eastpointe, through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC).
Cannon and other officials say the board will have continued oversight of the project, while the committee will continue to fundraise in an effort to reduce or eliminate the need for any local government funds to be used, and engineers will start their work.
“Given the importance of this project to a population that often does not have its own voice, and given that each year of delay causes the cost of the project to increase due to inflation, I feel that it is appropriate to proceed with the project now with the understanding that the contingency funds are available to cover the fundraising shortfall,” he said in a letter to the board.
Board members also approved signing the grant agreement from the state and approved working with vendor Game Time to put together the project design. These moves show the amenity is now fully funded and moving ahead in the community, said Deputy Supervisor Dan O’Leary.
Located in Ft. Payne, Ala., Game Time specializes in commercial playgrounds, custom play spaces, and outdoor fitness equipment based on “research with thoughtful design,” according to its website.
Clinton Township is the largest township in the state by population, but it’s also home to nearly 25% of Macomb County’s families with disabilities, according to Gieleghem.
Started in 2019, the playground’s fundraising committee has raised more than $100,000 under the guidance of AnnMarie Ottoy, a parent from Clinton Township whose son, Zach, 24, is developmentally disabled.
“This is not a special playground for special kids,” she said at last week’s board meeting. “This is a community place where people can come together to recreate together.”