Imagine a playground with a rainbow arch at the entrance. There are drums, native landscaping and a play firetruck cab that can accommodate a pair of wheelchairs.
A place for children of all abilities to play has been the Felida Neighborhood Association’s longtime vision for Felida Community Park. The 14-acre park off Northwest 122nd Street was built in 2003, the same year Milada Allen moved to the neighborhood.
“It’s just a wonderful, wonderful place,” she said of the popular park, which hosts soccer games, summer camps and an annual Fourth of July celebration.
As Allen got involved in neighborhood activities over the years — eventually becoming the neighborhood association president — she and her daughter noticed that the park’s play area wasn’t negotiable for children with wheelchairs, walkers and other specialized mobility equipment. Feedback from residents confirmed that.
“It was excluding a population that really wanted to participate but could not because of physical constrictions,” Allen said.
Now, a children’s all-abilities garden and play area is poised to be built in Felida Community Park in 2019 or 2020. It will be the first, but not last, of its kind in Clark County.
“It’s the way we’re going to go in the future with all our play areas,” said Bill Bjerke, the county’s parks and land division manager.
The goal is that every child has something tangible to interact with, regardless of their mobility. Many of Clark County’s parks have hard rubber surfacing, allowing children with mobility impairments some means to move about the playground, but Bjerke said they’re not totally accessible. There’s a difference between playgrounds that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and playgrounds that are all-inclusive, which is what’s planned for Felida Community Park.
Portland has already built fully inclusive playgrounds, such as Harper’s Playground at Arbor Lodge Park. The idea for the park was sparked when a couple’s 5-year-old daughter tried to approach a play structure in her walker and got stuck in wood chips.
Felida Community Park’s existing prefabricated playground, which is typical of older playgrounds, features stairs and ladders, raised slides and platforms, narrow passageways and wood chips. All-inclusive playgrounds like the one at Arbor Lodge feature ramped platforms, wider walkways, sensory walls, musical instruments, water features and equipment like redesigned slides or merry-go-rounds that have transfer points for wheelchairs and walkers.
Adults and children were surveyed about what they wanted to see in the new play area and those wishes are being carried out, Bjerke said. Consulting firm BergerABAM is designing the play area, which will be near the park’s main entrance off Northwest 122nd Street.
Bjerke said the county also plans to build an overflow parking lot on the park’s east side. The parking lot and play area will each cost about $300,000.
The county will cover the costs of the parking lot and costs associated with designing and permitting the play area. Meanwhile, the Parks Foundation of Clark County gave $10,000 to buy the firetruck cab and the Felida Neighborhood Association opened a donation fund at the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington to cover remaining costs.
Felida Community Park draws people from all over the area and Allen said she hopes the community will participate in raising funds for the garden and play area to improve the quality of life for people of all abilities.
Bjerke said the county may also put an all-abilities play area in Hockinson Community Park and has considered it for Cougar Creek Woods Community Park, where the county plans to expand a trail system connecting to the Salmon Creek Greenway Trail.
