Creating a place for all to play in Redwood City

The new playground will be the second time the Magical Bridge Foundation, a Palo Alto-based nonprofit, will try its hand at designing play spaces and equipment that just about anyone can play on. The nonprofit opened its first playground at Palo Alto’s Mitchell Park in 2015.

Jill Asher, one of the nonprofit’s cofounders, said those behind the opening of the first Magical Bridge Playground at Palo Alto’s Mitchell Park were eager to create another place where residents with mental and physical disabilities — as well as those who play with them — can fully experience safe play and the outdoors.

“We want everyone in the community to be able to play together,” she said. “Our hope is that it sends a message throughout Redwood City and beyond that everybody in the community matters regardless of their ability and disability.”

By grouping equipment in zones focused on specific themes, motions or age groups, Asher said Magical Bridge playgrounds offer a sense of predictability for its users, which she said can help some who might find traditional playgrounds overwhelming. Fences around different playground components can offer parents of children with autism, who are known to run from activity to activity, peace of mind knowing their children will stay safe when they play, said Asher.

Asher said those behind the designs for the playground are well aware of the many challenges some face when they visit more traditional playgrounds, adding that children in a wheelchair may be able to visit an ADA-compliant playground, but they may not be able to actually play on much of the equipment there. She added the same may go for others with cognitive disabilities, who may be able to physically access playground equipment but may not enjoy or learn from activities if it’s not designed for them in mind.

“We want everyone to have fun and engage and participate, and not feel like they stand out,” she said.

Though Chris Beth, the city’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department director, has reviewed a lot of playground designs in his career, he said the Magical Bridge designs taught him a lot about how playgrounds need to go beyond ADA requirements to truly be open to everyone.

“This has been quite a learning process,” he said. “My eyes were opened, too.”

Beth said he was very receptive to the idea when the nonprofit first approached the city, but initially wasn’t sure how funds would be generated for the project. In addition to the $1.5 million the city dedicated to the project, the nonprofit raised the rest of the funds needed to support the project, which Asher estimates will cost close to $4.5 million. Asher was encouraged by the community’s participation in raising the required funds, which she said came in hundreds of contributions, large and small, bolstered by a coin drive in Redwood City’s public schools that raised more than $25,000 in just two weeks.

Asher said making way for a larger parking lot and staging area next to the existing playground are among the first few projects crews will tackle. Beth estimates the designs will be finalized with a contractor identified by early 2018 so crews can go to work on installing the many pieces of equipment in the winter. Though Asher and Beth are targeting the fall of 2018 to open the playground, they said those attending the groundbreaking will be able to imagine what the park will look like with flags planted where play equipment is planned and project plans on display.

Vice Mayor Ian Bain said he was looking forward to seeing a playground that may not be like anything residents have experienced before take shape in a park that’s central to most neighborhoods in the city. After visiting the Magical Bridge playground in Palo Alto, Bain said he was better able to comprehend how the playground would open up play opportunities for all.

“Once you’ve seen it, then you can really get your head around what the possibilities are, and it’s great,” he said. “I think it’s going to be very, very well-used.”

The Magical Bridge groundbreaking will be held noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3, at Redwood City’s Red Morton Park, 1120 Roosevelt Ave.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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