This part of the story is for kids only:
Close your eyes. Picture yourself at a playground.
See yourself swinging, spinning, sliding, climbing, jumping, rolling, running. Think about crawling up a giant orca whale. Feel the soft turf beneath your bare feet.
All of this could be yours.
Now pass this newspaper back to your parents.
The Jefferson Universal Playground Movement—a group of parents, teachers and therapists working to build a playground at HJ Carroll Park that is accessible for all kids and all ages—is making a step forward in its fundraising process, but they need community support to make Jefferson County kids’ dreams come true.
An accessible playground is one that can be played on by all kids: those who can run and jump, and also kids who use wheelchairs, kids who have vision impairment or kids with autism or other disabilities.
The idea for a universal playground came about around three years ago, when two physical therapists at Chimacum Schools saw a need.
“I was a physical therapist in the Chimacum Schools and I had three pre-schoolers starting school who were non-ambulatory,” said Sarah Grossman, president of the JUMP board. “The existing playground was not going to work for those kids.”
Grossman got together with another Chimacum Schools therapist, Sarah McNulty, and began wondering: Could they make a playground for Jefferson County that served as a place for free play for all kids, instead of just some kids?
“There are so many kids with special needs who don’t have a place to play,” Grossman said. “The playgrounds that exist are often not safe for them, or not stimulating, or over-stimulating.”
Gathering the support of parents and community-members, Grossman and McNulty formed JUMP and approached the Jefferson County Parks and Recreation Department with their idea.
Jefferson County Parks manager Matt Tyler jumped onboard, working with county commissioners to approve donating a piece of land at HJ Carroll Park for the playground.
“I can’t think of a better project for HJ Carroll Park,” Tyler said. “To have something that is accessible for everyone is so important for our community and also for our society as a whole. There’s nothing like it available unless you want to drive to Bremerton or Port Angeles.”
But three years into fundraising and community outreach and the park is still at least a year-and-a-half away from construction. With new playground designs from registered landscape architect Ida Ottesen from Seattle-based Nakano Associates, the JUMP board is applying for a grant to help meet their fundraising goals.
The grant would come from the state’s Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program—the largest public funding source for outdoor community projects. According to the WWRP website, it provides matching funds to create new parks, protect wildlife habitat and preserve working lands.
The grant would be for $500,000, covering much of the cost of the playground, which Grossman estimated could end up costing more than $1 million to build over several phases of work.
The cost of the playground will cover accessible playground components such as swings, spinning chairs and a carousel that can be accessed in a wheelchair; ramps and deck structure with guardrails; fencing, artificial turf that is accessible for wheelchairs; new sidewalks and enhancements to HJ Carroll Park’s parking lot.
So far, JUMP has fundraised $120,000, but they still need to reach $200,000 to use as a match for the grant.
If the board is able to raise the money they need and win the grant funding, construction on the playground could begin in the fall of 2021, Grossman said.
But to win the grant, they need community support to show up and provide input at a public meeting coming up on Feb. 29 at Finnriver Cidery in Chimacum.
“Our Finnriver event is a community forum to share our new vision of the playground and climbing/adventure area,” Grossman said. “We will have posters and a model of the new design, along with other supporters from the community setting up tables with information of their programs.”
The event will take place from noon to 2 p.m. on Feb. 29. At 1 p.m., JUMP will take a community photo of everyone there to help demonstrate community support in the grant application.
“This park will be free and available year-round,” Grossman said. “Statistics keep showing fewer kids participating in physical activity and more device time. We’re hoping to make this a family-friendly, year-round way to get out and have fun.”
At the community meeting, citizens will have the chance to give their input on the playground’s design and building phases.
“We really want to have spinning, sliding, swinging and climbing features at this playground,” Grossman said. “There aren’t any playgrounds in the county that have all of those. … I think it will become a destination playground.”
