Surrounded by children whooping with laughter and hanging off new playground equipment, Franklin Mayor Stacy Guffey and local leaders officially opened the town’s first all-inclusive playground on November 6.
The town designed the playground to provide “opportunities for children with varying physical, sensory, and developmental needs to play side by side with family friends.” In addition to the new playground area, phase one includes a new restroom building and grassy open areas for additional play spaces and picnicking adjacent to the town’s skateboard park off Van Raalte Street in the former Whitmire property area.
After local citizens brought the need for a specialized play space to the town’s attention, the Town of Franklin received a PARTF grant through the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund for partial funding of the new $2 million park.
In his brief remarks before the ribbon cutting, Mayor Guffey thanked the hard work of the Parks and Recreation Department in creating this new facility. The crew on hand was given a hearty round of applause by attendees for their efforts to create a new community gathering space.
Speaking with Macon Sense following the ceremony, Guffey said he was happy to see the park coming together. He said future expansion plans included a pavilion and picnic area and access routes to the park itself.
“We’re updating the bicycle pedestrian plan, looking at safety and crosswalks, especially from the Highlands Road and Main Street intersection. While the new playground is very accessible to the local neighborhood, we want to conduct a survey to look at adding more and safer connectors so that children from the elementary school and other nearby neighborhoods can also access the park,” he added.
Callie Barnett, town planner, said the town is considering additional options such as farmer’s market and walking trails feeding off the wider property area that the town acquired.
“We’d like to keep this in pristine condition, and the community can do their part too,” Barnett added. During the park’s construction, vandals heavily damaged the restroom area, which was now in excellent condition as the park opened for public use.
During the short opening event, children were using all of the new facility’s equipment, running up ladders, balancing on bridges, and gliding down sliding boards. Diane Rogers was one of many family members keeping a close eye on the exuberance in the playground.
Rogers said her grandson, first grader Asher Levesque, had been counting down the days for the opening of the playground as he watched it being constructed. Rogers said she was happy to hear of future additions to the playground, including having a covered area for families.
Running by, Asher and eight other children jumped onto the merry ground and started a dizzying whirl while laughing at each other.
“This is going to be very popular with families,” said Rogers with a smile.
