The town of Ball’s inclusive playground, funded primarily by grants, will be consecrated and open Saturday.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Mayor Gail Wilking said Thursday. .”
Completed with the ribbon cutting with the Central Louisiana Area Chamber of Commerce, the dedication ceremony begins at noon. At 1:00 PM, Wilking, City Councilman and Ball Police Chief Marshall Dean will be sworn in for a new term.Reception is set from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
In August, the town announced it had been awarded a $120,000 grant through the Loews Hometown Initiative to build a playground that included equipment for children with special needs and children with autism. The board initially approved an additional $30,000 for the project, but later approved another $10,000 for better turf.
The grant application came as a surprise to Wilking. Her son San He runs Antonio Laws and it was he who named the town.
When she found out the town was asking for subsidies, she couldn’t tell anyone. It wasn’t easy, she said.
Wilking said that once the award was officially presented, the response from residents was overwhelmingly positive. The ball playground joins at least two other he-inclusive playgrounds in central Louisiana (Coughlin Sanders inclusive his playground in Alexandria and his one at Pollock, which opened on July 29) .
Mayor Rich Dupree said the city of Pineville is in the process of acquiring a comprehensive set of play equipment for Keys Park, but has not yet set a delivery date.
Lowe’s set a deadline for the end of November for the project, which the town has met, Wilking said. She said Lowes was “absolutely the best” throughout the process.
Inclusive Playgrounds in Central Louisiana:Children with special needs have a new playground in Pollock. Another one comes to Ball.
Playgrounds of Alexandria:Inclusive playground designed for children with special needs opens
The playground is wheelchair accessible and contains items that make music. She said the lawn “feels like walking on foam. It’s a dream. God has blessed us beyond words.”
She also acknowledged that Pan American Engineers and town engineer Tom David waived fees so that all grant money would go to the playground.
Wilking always wanted to address the town’s existing playground. This playground is a small fenced area with old equipment next to the police station, separated from the boardwalk and green space by a road. She feared that children crossing the road could be hit by a car.
And she said members of the council supported the new playground for the same reasons.
“They were determined to do this for their children,” she said.
Wilking said there is still room for additional equipment to be added to the playground if either the council funds it or a donation is made to the town.
For now, the mayor said he’s excited for Saturday “so the kids can run through that gate and have fun with it.”
