Inclusive Playground Upgrade Coming to Newtown's Dickenson Park

Newtown CT

26 February, 2022

4:13 PM

Description

The Newtown Lions Club spent the last two years raising money to install wheelchair-accessible playground equipment in Dickenson Park. That equipment recently arrived at the Newtown Park & Recreation garage. According to Carl Samuelson of Newtown Parks & Recreation, construction will start as soon as the weather permits and should be finished in mid-May. The Lions started the project in response to a letter from Leah Mangino, then an 8-year-old student at Middle Gate School. Leah noticed that the town playgrounds had very little to offer for children with mobility challenges and nothing for them to do with their able-bodied friends and siblings. She showed her letter to her grandfather, Walt Schweikert, a member of the Lions Club who proposed that the Club should take on a playground upgrade project. The Lions enthusiastically agreed and quickly started work. They identified three large pieces of wheelchair-accessible equipment that could be used by children regardless of physical ability: a glider and merry-go-round with space for two wheelchairs plus as many as six other passengers and a special swing for one wheelchair and several other children. All three pieces feature roll-on access without the need for transfer from the wheelchair. The new equipment is very expensive and requires a significant amount of site work including drainage, installation of footings and resurfacing. The total cost of the project is estimated at $175,000. The Lions raised $50,000 and the Town of Newtown approved an appropriation of $90,000 from its budget surplus to cover the rest of the equipment and contracted installation costs. Newtown Parks & Recreation will provide about $35,000 in site preparation. The equipment arrived in February at the Newtown Parks & Recreation facility in preparation for installation at Dickenson Park. A groundbreaking ceremony is planned for March 19th at 10 AM followed by an even bigger ribbon-cutting ceremony at the completion of installation planned for a date in May depending on weather conditions this spring. The Newtown Lions have a long history of support for the town's parks. They raised the funds for, and helped build, the existing playground at Treadwell Park more than 20 years ago and contributed to the Dickenson Park Fun-Space II project which opened in 2014. According to Mr. Schweikert, the inclusive upgrade project was a natural fit for the Club.