County’s accessible playground, splash pad to open next weekend

Public invited to Playscape’s grand opening celebration Aug. 1
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Swiveling water cannons, giant frog misters and water-spraying posts. Spiral slides, climbing walls and outdoor drums and bongos. These are a few of the features the public will be able to start enjoying Aug. 1, when the grand opening of the Karst Playscape takes place from 1 to 3 p.m. at Karst Farm Park. The grand opening of the fully-accessible Playscape — which now consists of a splash pad and the completed half of a playground — will feature concession food and music by The Pirate Band. On Aug. 1, the fenced-in splash pad will be open to the public from 1 to 8 p.m. Beginning Aug. 2, the splash pad will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday until it’s closed down sometime this fall. The playground will be open any time the park is open. “Everyone deserves a chance to play, and this is a place where nobody gets left out,” said Kelli Witmer, assistant administrator for the Monroe County Parks and Recreation Department. “It’s the first of its kind in the community.” Witmer said the Playscape, which has six accessible restrooms with flush toilets, is designed for all adults and kids, including those with disabilities. “We feel it’s important for people with all kinds of abilities to have the opportunity to play together, everyone from little kids to grandma and grandpa,” she said.

Splash pad
The splash pad — which recirculates UV-filtered water — features colorful, water-flinging features that children activate by passing their hands over a yellow post containing a sensor. The sensor activates one of four computer programs that send water spraying, shooting or misting out of 14 large features shaped like a frog’s mouth, cannon, or multicolored flower petals. Each program tells the water features to emit water at different time intervals. One of the splash pad’s sneakiest features is a large bucket perched 12 feet off the pad’s concrete surface that gradually fills with water, then dumps it onto unsuspecting people below. Among Bloomington’s luckiest children are the three dozen youngsters now attending the Karst Day Camp. On two successive Tuesdays, they recently had the opportunity to test the Playscape by frolicking in the splash pad and romping on the playground. “I like the water cannon,” said one of those campers, 11-year-old Austin Maggard. “It spins, so I can aim it at my friends and shoot them with water.” Abby Burch, 8, said she also likes squirting her friends with the cannon, but added that she enjoys cupping water in her hands and throwing it at Jared Winans, one of the camp counselors. “When I do that, he runs away,” she said with a smile. Alyssa Deckard, 7, said she likes the frog mister. “I walk through it and the water splashes all over me,” she said. Jessie Cullison, 9, said he prefers the post that spins, sending a spiral of water in every direction just inches above his head. “It makes a wall of water right over you, but you don’t get wet,” Jessie said. Witmer said there will be two waterproof wheelchairs available at the circular-shaped splash pad, which is 55 feet in diameter and encircled by a 6-foot-high chain link fence. “Our park staff designed the wheelchair and took it to Stone Belt so they could perfect the seat and see if they could manufacture it,” she said. “If the wheelchairs are successful, Stone Belt will be able to produce and sell them across the nation.” Witmer said people in wheelchairs will be able to transfer out of their chairs into the waterproof wheelchairs, then get thoroughly soaked in the splash pad without worrying about damaging their chairs. The splash pad has several colorful canopies with benches underneath, where people can relax in the shade. Near the entry gate is a large, yellow canopy that stretches over picnic tables, at which people can enjoy a leisurely lunch. Also near the entry gate are cubbies where people can store their towels and shoes, and an area where people in wheelchairs can transfer into waterproof wheelchairs. And alongside the splash pad is an area covered with artificial grass where people can rest and relax. Toddlers younger than age 3 cannot use the splash pad features, and children younger than 14 years of age must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

Accessible playground
The 7,600-square-foot playground has a rubberized surface and wide, gently sloping, wheelchair accessible walkways. Behind it is a retaining wall made up of huge, preformed concrete blocks. “We’re in limestone country, so we wanted to give it a limestone quarry feel,” said Chuck Stephenson, administrator for the Monroe County Parks and Recreation Department. The playground has climbing walls of varying difficulties, tube tunnels, plastic drums and bongos, and play forts with slides. People in wheelchairs can transfer onto platforms connected to railed walkways that lead them to the top of the slides. Part of the playground is a long, 10-foot-wide pathway that can be used for, among other things, wheelchair races.

Saved some money
Witmer said Monroe County Parks and Recreation staff members did 90 percent of the labor required to build the Playscape, shaving about $1 million off the cost of the project. She said the total cost of the two-acre Playscape is about $500,000, and that the lion’s share of that amount came from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and private donations. Other financial contributors include Options, the Monroe County commissioners, Monroe County Parks and Recreation, and Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County. The major in-kind sponsors are Ron Taylor Improvement and the Rogers Group. Monroe County residents own the 120-acre Karst Farm Park, the county commissioners hold the park’s title, and the Monroe County Parks and Recreation Board manages the park.

Still to come
Future plans for the Playscape include a 45-by-45-foot sandbox, nature area, two shelter houses, additional playground equipment and a Patriot Corner. The Patriot Corner, which could be completed by the end of the year if funds/can be raised, will feature a large flagpole showcasing the Stars and Stripes, a computer that will play patriotic songs, a large U.S. map and historical documents. “This will not be a memorial,” Witmer said. “It will be a place where kids can run and play, but also learn about our country’s history and those who served, or are serving, in our armed services.”<