Come join in our efforts to create a custom-built playground at the new Park and Community Center at Haverford Reserve located between Darby and Marple Roads in Haverford Township. The park is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2010 and we hope to be opening the playground then. We have partnered with Variety, The Children’s Charity so that your donations are tax-deductible! Come help us build April 20-25, 2010.
Freedom Playground will be built with Universal Design. Adults and children alike will be able to use the playground regardless of their abilities. Children with disabilities often have very few places to play. We are lucky to have Merry Place on Glendale Road in Haverford Township. Freedom Playground will carry on the efforts made at Merry Place. ALL children will have the opportunity to go down a slide or play tag on the accessible ground cover. Freedom Playground will provide a play place for children with varied disabilities, including physical, mental and sensory issues. Similar playgrounds have been built and have made huge impacts on the lives of children with disabilities and their families.
Haverford Township has given the Freedom Playground committee the authorization to use the grounds previously dedicated to a playground area to plan, fund raise and build a custom-built playground. Freedom Playground has been granted the township funds that would have been used for a standard playground to purchase building supplies. The playground will primarily use composite lumber for both safety and longevity. The ground cover will be “Poured In Place”, a solid cover similar to track and field tracks that is literally poured in place and troweled smooth. This provides accessibility for wheelchairs, walkers, strollers and crawling babies as well as providing more days of play per year since water drains through the material.
Freedom Playground will be designed and guided by Leather and Associates based in Ithaca, NY. Leathers is the premier custom-built playground architectural firm in the US and has built over 2,000 playgrounds.
The projected cost of the Freedom Playground is $330,000. The playground will need 1,500 volunteers to help built it. The only paid labor will be for architectural fees and installing the ground cover. |
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