BROOKVILLE — City manager Jack Kuntz informed the park board the inclusive playground in Golden Gate Park, located at 545 Upper Lewisburg-Salem Road, is now available to be used by the public.

“The service department will be installing a sidewalk from the trail at the Brookville Community Theatre building parking lot that will connect the sidewalk to the playground,” Kuntz said.

“This way people with adaptive equipment and any type of mobility assistance devices will be able to easily access the playground,” Kuntz continued.

The playground, which was installed beginning last June, is located on the west side of the creek near the community theater.

Council gave its authorization last February to purchase equipment through Sourcewell, of Staples, Minn.

Sourcewell is a cooperative purchasing program.

Kuntz said the project was made possible through grants the city received.

A portion of the funds to pay for the playground came from a Community Development Block Grant and a Montgomery County Solid Waste District the city received. Council accepted the grant funds at the Dec. 5, 2023, council meeting.

The original cost of the playground was $425,000 when it was first presented by then city manager Sonja Keaton to council in July of 2023.

But the playground had to be redesigned after the city didn’t receive the requested amount of money from the two funds.

Keaton submitted an application for a $200,000 CDBG Block grant, but CDBG officials only approved $75,000 toward the project.

Keaton also submitted an application to the Montgomery County Solid Waste District for an $87,500 grant, but only received $75,000.

“I reached out to our contact with Midstates Recreation and she was able to redesign the inclusive playground to cut that project cost to $200,000, with the ability to add additional equipment and expand upon the playground in future years if we move forward with applying for grant assistance,” Keaton said at the Dec. 5, 2023 meeting.

Keaton said the two grants will pay for $150,000 of the cost for phase one of the project.

“Our commitment is $50,000,” Keaton said.

Keaton noted the project could continue to expand over a three- to four-year period, depending on available funding.

According to literature provided to council by Keaton, “an accessible play area means that a child who uses a wheelchair can get into it. If it is inclusive, then the play activities have been selected and laid out in such a way that the child in the chair can engage with children of different abilities while they play.”

The National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD), a public health practice and resource center on health promotion for people with disability, states

“an inclusive playground considers not just physical access, but also emotional, social, and psychological benefits of play. It encompasses the philosophy that children and adults of all abilities benefit immensely from being able to play and interact together.”

In other matters, Kuntz informed the park board signs prohibiting the use of marijuana in all city parks will soon be erected.

The signs will coincide with the signs prohibiting the use of alcohol in all city parks.

Reach Terry Baver at [email protected].