The City of Walnut Creek Recreation Department announced today that the new All Abilities Playground opening date is set for Saturday, October 25.
A community celebration of the grand opening of the All Abilities Playground at Heather Farm Park. Pre-event festivities begin at 9:30 a.m. and the ceremony will start at 10 a.m.
For more information about the new playground, visit http://www.wccivicpride.org/#!
You may also visit the City of Walnut Creek on Facebook by clicking here.
Via the Website, here is more information about the Park:
Signature Play Areas
Walnut Creek’s All Abilities Playground will be 30,000 square feet in size and is being designed to fully address the needs of the whole child by intentionally addressing the physical, cognitive, communicative, social/emotional, and sensory needs of all children, including the estimated 10-20 percent of our children who have some type of disability.
The new playground will have distinct play areas that will appeal to a range of ages, from toddlers to children as old as 12 years of age.
- 2-5-Year-Old Play Area (learn more)
- 5-12-Year-Old Play Area (learn more)
- Multi-Age, All-Abilities Play Area: Centrally located between the two age-group areas, this area has a large multi-element ramped structure
- Free-Play Climbing Hill: Also centrally located, this area will have concrete ball elements, facilitating free, unstructured play for all ages
- Sand Play Lot
- Swing Set Zone, featuring both traditional swings and accessible bucket swings
All-Abilities Features
If the private fundraising effort is successful, the playground will have all of the following features:
- Shock-absorbent, resilient-surface pathways and flooring beneath all play equipment, allowing children and their caregivers with mobility challenges to move around the playground easily
- Structures and equipment with wider ramps, allowing children to get the greatest use and enjoyment from the playground
- Ramped structures, which allow children to have a sense of elevation
- Climbing structures that allow children of all abilities to challenge themselves
- Abundance of ground-level play opportunities
- Swing set zone with tot swings and high-back special-needs swings
- Sound and sensory equipment throughout
- Shaded play structures, providing more protection from heat and sun
- Benches within the play zones, so parents can sit close to where children play
Park Location
The All Abilities Playground will be located in an area surrounded by mature shade trees and adjacent to picnic areas and approved ADA-compliant restrooms and parking facilities. As part of the project, the City will make a number of accessibility improvements to the park, including the addition of more van accessible parking spaces and other parking lot upgrades as well as the creation of accessible pathways to the public spaces and playground.
