By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Ryan Wichman remembers well a birthday party held at a playground for his young son, Grant, who uses a walker.
“He was the only one of his friends who couldn’t go play,” since the playground was not built for children of all abilities, said Wichman, a meteorologist with Channel 11 News in Toledo.
Wichman and others with the Wood County Plays organization are working to make sure there are more playgrounds where all children can play together. After building the first such playground in Perrysburg, the organization is now planning its next one at Carter Park in Bowling Green.
On Monday, Wichman introduced the plans to members of the Silver Cross Circle of the King’s Daughters and Sons in Bowling Green.
Wichman showed photos of the finished product in Perrysburg, including a merry-go-round that is level with the ground, so children using wheelchairs and walkers can ride.
“How cool is that,” Wichman said.
One photo showed his son’s best friend, with a grin spread across his face.
“He was spinning so fast, I thought I was going to throw up,” Wichman said. “You don’t get this face on a traditional playground.”
The inclusive playground is designed for all children, of all abilities.
“This is not a handicapped park. This is not a special needs park. This is a park,” he said.
But it comes with quite a price tag.
The 14,000 square foot playground in Perrysburg that opened this summer cost about $800,000 to build. The Bowling Green park will be smaller, and is estimated to cost about $500,000.
“We’re super excited to bring an inclusive playground to Bowling Green,” said Wichman, who is a 2005 graduate of Bowling Green High School.
Wichman and his wife first realized the need for inclusive playgrounds in 2018, when their son, then 2 ½ years old, found it impossible to traverse parks with mulch ground covering and stairs. Grant was frustrated that he needed his parents’ help to use equipment that other children could access on their own.
“We knew there had to be a better way,” Wichman said.
One of the challenges is to make the playground safe, fun, and a little risky all at the same time.
Another challenge is the expense. In Perrysburg more than 500 families and several organizations and local businesses donated money and labor.
“It truly does take a community to build this,” said Margie Harris, of Bowling Green, who is a member of the Wood County Plays board.
The playground was constructed over a three-day period, with 50 volunteers working each day.
“It was a daunting task,” Wichman said.
The Perrysburg playground has a zipline, ropes course, merry-go-round, swings, shade structures, and imagination stations like the fire engine, rocketship and little houses. There are sensory areas, with music stations and a tunnel.
“Every kid isn’t going to be able to use the same equipment, but kids can experience the same things,” he said.
“The kids will go 12 to 14 people deep, like it’s a Cedar Point rollercoaster line,” for the zipline, Wichman said.
There are no concrete surfaces, no mulch, no curbs and no holes. The surface is all poured rubber, which is “incredibly expensive,” Wichman said. Kids who use wheelchairs and walkers can reach the top levels of playground structures with their friends who don’t use equipment for walking.
The glory is, Wichman said, that all kids can play side by side.
The park will be surrounded by fencing, so children who have autism can play there safely. That was a relief to one Wood County Plays board member, whose son once ran from a park into an intersection.
The Wood County Plays board is expected to make a decision about the Carter Park playground design team this weekend.
The current plans call for the playground to be between 7,000 and 10,000 square feet, and to take the place of the current playground in Carter Park. As was done in Perrysburg, once completed, the park will be gifted to the city.
A fundraising event is planned for Jan. 21, at the Veterans Building in City Park. But Wichman cautioned that raising $500,000 will take effort.
“It’s going to take some time, we understand that,” he said.
But the work will be worth it. “We know it’s a real need here in Bowling Green,” Wichman said.
