Brunswick's inclusive playground could open next fall

BRUNSWICK — Plans for an inclusive playground at Neura Park, 4637 Center Road, continue to move along with organizers hoping to hold a ribbon-cutting by next fall. The roughly $350,000 project is being funded with $150,000 Brunswick city dollars, a $61,000 grant through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, and community donations facilitated by Brunswick City Schools volunteers. Easy wheelchair access, smooth ground surfaces in place of mulch and "quiet groves" for students living with sensory challenges are just a few site features that will be available, said Brunswick Schools special education coordinator Leann Alferio, who's taken a lead role in project planning. "The support and enthusiasm we've seen from our community has just been astounding," she said. "Everything we're adding to the project is coming through donations, not any budgeted school district funds. It's all our community stepping up and telling everyone how important this is to them. A lot of our community members raising money have been children. We've had several kids set up their own lemonade stands to help out. We also had a young girl who started her own garden and sold vegetables. Everyone wants to help out and get this done." Gwen Ciccozzi, a student at Towslee Elementary School living with cerebral palsy, and her mother, Rebecca Ciccozzi, were thanked this past summer for their lemonade stand and related project fundraising. Brunswick City Manager Carl DeForest said he's eyed next September as a target date for a ribbon-cutting. "We're going to try and get all the money put together by the spring, March or April, and figure out what the next step is from there," he said. "We'll set up bids to get a contractor in there. This is a town and community coming together for something everyone wants to see happen, a playground that all of our kids can enjoy. It's been something that's been talked about for a long time and now it's getting closer to becoming a reality." DeForest said the Rotary Club of Brunswick has pledged $10,000 for the project. "One rotary member, an optometrist named Don Kammer, has put forward about $2,500 himself," he said. "There's just been a lot of enthusiasm coming from a lot of different directions and we're very, very thankful for that." Lefario said a current tally of community donations is being put together. While $350,000 has been stated as a project budget floor, additional costs could be taken on to cover restroom improvements, fencing and a wheelchair path. However, some of those features could be covered by further donations of materials and labor from area businesses, DeForest said. "We've been in touch with Home Depot and there could be some volunteers coming from there to donate their time as well as some fencing they're able to supply us with," he said. "Like I said, everyone is really pulling together for this." Brunswick city will be overseeing the inclusive playground's construction and will be responsible for site maintenance once it's completed, DeForest said. Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4040 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.