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Politics & Government

New Playground At Jaycee Park Will Be Accessible To All

Unlimited Play seeks sponsors to reach fundraising goal of $750,000.

A visit to a unique playground in the Washington, D.C. area a few years ago turned into a life-changing event for the Blakemore family of O’Fallon. And ultimately, the experience resulted in a similar playgrounds being built in Lake St. Louis and Clayton with more to come in O’Fallon and St. Charles.

It was the first time two-and-a-half-year-old Zachary Blakemore, whose disability requires him to use an electric wheelchair, had actually been able to do what kids are supposed to do in playgrounds—play.

“It was unlike anything we’d ever seen before,” Natalie Blakemore, his mother, said.  “He played and interacted with kids like he just had never been able to do.”

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Years later Blakemore is still emotional about the experience.

“It was so fun,” she said. “And it meant so much to me that somebody had taken the time to think about my child and what it would mean to play on a playground.”

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While many playgrounds are labeled “ADA accessible,” they’re not really accessible to kids in wheel chairs, Blakemore said.  Hadley’s playground in Potomac, MD—the one that inspired the Blakemores—was different.

A variety of features enabled Zachary, who suffers from Pelizaeus-Merzbacher, a rare degenerative central nervous system disorder that makes it difficult to walk and talk, to be in the middle of the action.

Blakemore and her husband Todd were so enamored with the playground and how it traansformed their son that they decided disabled kids in the St. Louis area needed one too.

Once she returned home, Natalie Blakemore started calling nearby municipalities to ask if they would have the land for an all-inclusive playground if she raised the money to construct it.

“I quickly realized I needed to set up a non-profit agency,” she said. In 2003 the Blakemores formed Unlimited Play to help bring all-inclusive playgrounds to the St. Louis area and began fund-raising for what ultimately would become Zachary’s Playground in Lake Saint Louis.  

Fund-raising efforts for the playgrounds included everything from a BBQ/carnival/petting zoo to golf tournaments to community speaking engagements the Blakemores do.  Unlimited Play also got corporate help--CenturyTel of Wentzville sold hot dog sales and CitiMortgage of O’Fallon raised money through “Jeans Days.”  The Developmental Disabilities Resource Board is also a major donor.

The organization has gone on to raise funds for similar playgrounds at Shaw Park in Clayton which opened in October and another that will open in Westhoff Park in O’Fallon in September. 

Elements that set all-inclusive playgrounds apart from others include poured-in-place rubberized surfaces or rubber tiles instead of pea gravel or wood chips to allow wheel chairs to move on them and wide ramps that wheelchairs can negotiate. 

All-inclusive playgrounds also pay attention to the needs of all children, Natalie Blakemore said. For example, slides aren’t made of plastic because the static they create can disrupt cochlear implants on deaf children. Instead, they are made of metal or rollers, a popular option, she added. 

Because his disability makes it hard for him to regulate his body temperature, Zachary “wilts” after 15 to 20 minutes outdoors, Blakemore said. To help him and other children with similar problems, Zachary’s playground has a “splash pad” area where kids can cool off on hot days, she added. 

The non-profit is currently raising funds for an all-inclusive playground for Jaycee Park in St. Charles.  The basic elements will be in a 7,300-square-foot play area with additional features around the perimeter.

The St. Charles Parks and Recreation Department on Wednesday received proposals from six playground manufacturers that its Jaycee Playground Task Force will review in the next couple of weeks, Chris Atkinson, assistant parks director, said.  It’s hoped the playground open in the fall but it could be later, Atkinson said. “Our goal is to have it ready this year but we don’t want to say it will and disappoint some people,” he added.

Meanwhile, Unlimited Play continues to raise money for the $750,000 project.  Some $500,000 has been raised so far but a new round of fundraising will kick into high gear once the task force has a drawing of the playground—a “nice visual”—to show off to the public, Atkinson said.

“Most people want to see what they’re buying into,” he said. 

But the completion of the Jaycee Park playground does not mean Unlimited Play’s work will be over.  The Blakemores, through Unlimited Play, plan to continue to help other communities build playgrounds similar to Zachary’s Playground by assisting in fund-raising and design.

The non-profit is fielding calls from parents all over the country “who wish so badly that they had a place for their children to play,” Natalie Blakemore said. 

“We help them understand the difference between what a vendor sells as ‘accessible’ and what we’ve learned ourselves with life experience and from other families who have disabled children,” she said. 

Donations can be made to Unlimited Play Inc 41 N. Meadow Drive, O’Fallon, MO 63366 or through the non-profit’s website, unlimitedplay.org. Corporate sponsors are also being sought. 

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