The notion of a completely barrier-free children's play area will take one big step closer to becoming a reality this weekend, with some top dignitaries in attendance to commemorate the occasion.
His Royal Highness Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Ontario Lieutenant Governor David Onley and Mayor David Miller will be on hand to help launch the construction of the Neshama Playground in Oriole Park.
Neshama will be the product of several local business leaders, who realize the need for a playground that offers accessible and inclusive activities for all children. The inspiration for the playground came when criminal lawyer Steven Skurka and investment manager Thomas Caldwell shared a magazine article about a four-year-old child in New York who - due to physical disability - was unable to join other kids in traditional playgrounds.
"They agreed that Toronto needed something like that," said Theo Caldwell of Caldwell Asset Management, one of the companies leading the charge to help fund the Neshama Playground. "When we looked at playgrounds in the city, I was surprised to find that a lot of children with physical and cognitive disabilities can't use a (conventional) playground the same as other children."
Neshama will feature an accessible play area to allow children with mobility problems to access the equipment, but its benefits range far beyond that. Other play features will allow for sensory, creative and motor skill development, which will provide ample opportunities for children of all ages to build their abilities.
"They're things that all kids find neat; they're tactile and fun," Caldwell said. "It's important to have an equilibrium. The goal is to have an integrated area that everyone will enjoy using."
One play area will include musical devices for non-physical play while others will feature buckets and cranks to allow kids to play with water, concrete walls with indigenous stones for sensory learning and educational spaces with letters, numbers and shapes.
"The play apparatus is remarkable and ingenious in the way it's put together," Caldwell said.
Making the playground all the more impressive is the fact that it will cost roughly the same as a more traditional, non-accessible play area of the same size. Proponents of the large playground are putting just over $1 million into Neshama, with the city matching that amount.
"That's one of the reasons I was so surprised that it hasn't been done," Caldwell said. "It's not prohibitively more expensive than building a regular playground."
He added that once Neshama is built, it can be used as a model for future playgrounds throughout Toronto and beyond.
The unique facility has already attracted attention from summer camps, who are eager to make use of the accessible play area.
"We've heard from so many people who are chomping at the bit to get in and use it," Caldwell said.
Construction on the playground will start this summer, with the official launch ceremony with Miller, Onley and Prince Edward taking place at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 8 at Oriole Park, near Chaplin Crescent and Oriole Parkway. For more information on the park and its features, visit www.neshamaplayground.ca
BY JUSTIN SKINNER
June 5, 2008 11:45 AM
