Friends of Stewart Park (FSP) invites the public to a Groundbreaking Ceremony for Phase II of the new Inclusive Playground at Stewart Park, Thursday, September 5, 2019 at 2:00pm. The Ceremony includes sod-cutting and remarks by Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton, Mayor Svante Myrick, and Rick Manning, FSP Executive Director.
Conceptualized in 2016, the Inclusive Playground incorporates landscape and structural components designed by local design firms Parkitects, Play by Design and EarthPlay with input from accessibility professionals and advocates like Racker to ensure that landscape elements and play structures would create an inclusive and engaging playscape for all children. Phase I of the playground, including a preschool structure, sand play area, swings and boulder-climbing net, was completed fall of 2018, with most of the construction done by volunteers in a 900 person community build.
This second phase of the playground construction realizes many of the accessibility goals FSP has adopted for the playground, and will include a large, school-age structure with engaging play features and highly accessible, rubber safety surfacing; a curved and gently-sloped berm connecting the play structure at different elevations, culminating at the Cayuga Lake Overlook; and parking and pathway improvements to enhance access to the playground and adjacent park facilities. In addition, Phase II includes a protective cover for the Carousel to better preserve this charming 1950 structure which was restored in 2015 by FSP and the City with tremendous community support.
