By Danielle Seat and Riley Bean | October 12, 2020 at 6:56 AM EDT - Updated October 12 at 7:11 AM
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of North Charleston says they are designing a new “fully inclusive playground” that will cater to children with physical and mental disabilities.
The City of North Charleston Director of Recreation Doyle Best says the plan is to build the new playground in front of North Charleston Creative Arts Elementary at Oak Terrace Preserve.
“It’s something that I know is near and dear to the Mayor’s heart as well as our recreation department. We want to be inclusive, and we want to make sure we’re providing opportunities for everyone,” Best said. “And playgrounds are somewhere where we see that we’re lacking with that. So we’re excited about it.”
The playground will include things like roller slides, harness swings, domes and tunnels which the city says will provide a quiet space for those who may get over-stimulated.
PlayCore’s Center for Outreach, Research, and Education along with the SC Recreation and Parks Association selected this playground and seven others across the state to be National Demonstration Sites.
Officials say community members will be able to submit comments about their experience through a QR code.
PlayCore says they are providing the grant money to help the city gauge the playground’s success once it’s built.
The City of North Charleston says they will match the $70,000 grant, dollar for dollar.
Best says the City of North Charleston hopes to open the new playground in 2021 starting construction during the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021.
The city hopes this will be the first of many inclusive playgrounds in North Charleston, but Best says funding is still being finalized for future projects.
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