$7.8 MILLION GRANT AWARD WILL EXPAND FUTURE OF PLAY IN VISALIA
-December 8,2021-
Thanks to a $7.8 million dollar grant from the State of California’s Office of Grants and Local Services, Visalia will be the future home of the southern Central Valley’s first inclusive play space.
The 1.25 acre plus linear park will be adjacent to Downtown Visalia Children’s Museum at Oak St and Burke – the entrance to the new Civic Center area.
“Today’s grant announcement marks a step forward for our community, it is the culmination of community support, citizen feedback and strong partnerships,” shared Mayor Steve Nelsen. “This grant will allow us to create Visalia’s first inclusive playground, a playground that will truly be built to serve children of all abilities.”
Visalia is one of 112 grantees announced as recipients of funding from the State of California’s Proposition 68 Statewide Park Development and Community Revitalization Program. Over 450 applications were received from throughout California.
“Bridge Horizons Play Park will change the way we view play, it will be a gift to the City of Visalia,” provided Jeremy Rogers, Community Services Director. “The vision and feedback from our residents, our City Council and all those who took part in helping us prepare and apply for this funding brought us to this historic day.”
The park will be east of ImagineU Children’s Museum, along the Mill Creek Trail, a community asset that should draw families to the area.
A celebration of Visalia’s heritage with a look towards the future, the Park will consist of three main sections. The sensory rich exploration areas of the Sequoia Grove Inclusive Playground will be home to a rootball cozy space, a Sequoia tree hut, a sensory wall, and a sensory dome cone.
The Music and Story Meadow will be a community centered, and child directed experience, with dance chimes, a singing stone, and an outdoor stage. The River Bottom Water Play Zone will be powered by kids, not electricity, and feature interactive climbing features, spouts, spray zones and more.
Planned in partnership with Unlimited Play, Inc., Bridge Horizons Play Park will serve the entire community.
“Our planning partners at Unlimited Play have really shown us how the benefits of inclusive playgrounds extend to able-bodied children as well,” added Rogers. “This will be a space where children learn and grow from interacting with others who are in some ways different from them. It also allows adults with disabilities to play in spaces with their children. It will be a space that is truly for everyone.”
