Taylor and her family approached Fort Wayne (Ind.) Parks and Recreation Director Al Moll asking for support and suggestions on where to locate the new playground. The decision was made to build the playground in Kreager Park, a 173-acre park easily accessible to a large regional service area. It is owned and maintained by the Fort Wayne Board of Park Commissioners. Taylor?EUR??,,????'?????<

The playground design was a team effort, led by Graduate Landscape Architect Alec Johnson and Parks Superintendent Steve McDaniel. The design process included extensive input from Parks and Recreation staff, various user groups and agencies including the Turnstone Center for Children and Adults with Disabilities and The League for the Bilnd and Disabled.

Everything from the play equipment to the ground itself has been designed to allow children with disabilities and without to play together in an inclusive setting. The playground is now a reality, and features an accessible surface called Playground Grass.

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A Young girl jumps from Stationary Button to Stationary Button in the Gamma Pod of the park.

Playground Grass by ForeverLawn is an artificial grass surfacing system designed for beauty, safety and accessibility in playground environments. The system offers a soft, grass-like surface, combined with a padded sub-surface that provides an ASTM safety rating to fall heights of 12 feet. The texture and appearance of the grass contributes to the tactile and visual sensory perception of the children, and the even, stable surface provided by Playground Grass is ADA accessible, allowing wheelchairs, braces, and other assistive equipment to access the facility easily and safely.

The playground features three circular pods of playground equipment and activity areas, placed in proximity to one another and on changing elevations, with connecting accessible ramps:

• Alpha Pod, designed for younger children (2-5 years), provides opportunities for parallel play, group and solitary play. It also encourages role-playing, socialization and creative, imaginative play.
  
• Beta Pod, designed for children of all ages (2-12 years), provides an intriguing, multi-sensory themed play area featuring a fossilized T-Rex skeleton for exploration and a NEOS 360 that promotes competition and teamwork while giving kids a heart-pounding, physically challenging workout.
  
• Gamma Pod, designed for older children (5-12 years), offers broader opportunities for parallel play, group and solitary play. It also encourages role-playing, socialization and creative, imaginative play. Motion is an important aspect of play in this area.

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Located in the Gamma Pod, the Aero Glider enables all kids, including those in wheelchairs, to play side by side. The play structure in the background includes the Sky Link, Whirlwind Climber, Triple Racer Slide, wheelchair ramps and platforms. Shade Hats by Solar Shade USA provide shade on the play structures.

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Other features include:

• A splash pad for water play that connects the three activity pods like the hub of a wheel
  
• A safety surface that feels like natural grass, selected for its antimicrobial and drainage properties, durability and fall protection, and recycled materials
  
• Fully accessible, modern restrooms using Green technology
  
• Multiple shade structures designed and placed on site to maximize shaded seating and play areas
  
• Ample walkways, fully accessible for wheelchairs and other assistive devices
  
• Accessible parking, including ADA-specific designated spaces well above minimum requirements
  
• Landscape palette which includes trees, perennials, and ornamental grasses chosen for their sensory characteristics and sited within the playground itself to encourage interaction and exploration
  
• A water treatment chain which includes two 2,500 SF rain gardens flowing into a low-mow bio swale running for approximately ???????(R)????? miles into 2 large retention ponds. This treatment chain treats all water flowing off of the playground, the parking lot, and all runoff (between 80-100 GPM) from the splash pad.
  

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The Gamma Pod at the playground is designed for children ages 5 to 12. This play structure includes. Playworld Systems?EUR??,,????'?????<

Fifty year-old Sherry Woodman had the opportunity to play on a playground for the first time in her life at the grand opening of Taylor?EUR??,,????'?????<

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Shade for this picnic area is provided by Superior Shade with a large 30 x 30 ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The playground took four years to build, which consisted of a lot of fundraising and hard work by Taylor, the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department, and the community. Taylor and her family personally raised $10,000 through community and school fundraising, and the city of Fort Wayne provided $250,000 toward the playground fund. But when Taylor discovered that the playground would cost over a million dollars to build, she ?EUR??,,????'?????<

A large part of the funds to build the park came from a grant from the Pepsi Refresh Challenge, a competition that the park won thanks to a huge effort by Taylor?EUR??,,????'?????< ideas that refresh the world,?EUR??,,????'?????<

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The playground took four years to build, which consisted of a lot of fundraising and hard work by Taylor Reuille and family, the Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation Department, and the community. The site includes informational and donor signage.

Adrianne Lyon, director of children?EUR??,,????'?????<

Now that Taylor is 15, some suggested that she might be too old to play on the playground that she dreamed up. Taylor responded, ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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The playground features a splash pad for water play that connects the three activity pods like the hub of a wheel. The fixtures are from the Vortex Splash Pad ?EUR??,,????'?????<

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