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 New
Playground Easy for Disabled
Lansing City Community News, November 14, 2004
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http://www.bridges4kids.org.
Diverse groups
from Lansing - business, government and even a motorcycle club -
united for a good cause: Playing.
The "Able to Play" project at Henry H. North Elementary School
is billed as the first of its kind in Michigan. It is a
playground designed to be accessible to children of all physical
abilities.
The playground opened Nov. 5, 2004.
It was made possible through the efforts of several interested
parties: National Center for Boundless Playgrounds (a W.K.
Kellogg Foundation grantee), Lansing Rotary Foundation, and a
group of parents, students and teachers. The city of Lansing
contributed a Neighborhood Association Ward grant. Support also
came from Capital Region Foundation, Dean Transportation,
Landscape Architects and Planners and Fred White Engineering.
The group worked together to change their old playground, which
had left students with disabilities watching from the sidelines.
"This special playground will be a model for what every
playground should offer children," Rena Baxter is quoted as
saying. Baxter is an occupational therapist at North and
coordinator of the project.
Features of the new playground include four special areas.
Wheelchair-accessible swings and surfaces.
Special ramps leading to the structure's highest point and
throughout the 5,000-square-foot structure.
An earth exploration area where children can play in sand and
water.
A sound area where children can create music and enjoy rhythm
activities on bridges, drums and tunnels.
The school is located at 333 E. Miller Road in Lansing.
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