By Alexander Dworkowitz
For many Queens wheelchair-bound children, leaning back and riding a swing is little more than a dream.
But at a playground in Flushing Meadows city officials have turned that dream into a reality.
On Monday, the city Parks Department broke ground on a renovation for the 3.5-acre “Playground for All Children,” on the western edge of Flushing Meadows Corona Park at 111th Street and Corona Avenue.
The design calls for more than $4 million in improvements to the nation’s first handicapped-accessible playground.
“Every child deserves to play with other children and have carefree fun regardless of their ability,” said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Designed in the 1970s and opened to the public in 1984, the playground caters to physically disabled children. For example, there already are swings that children who cannot use their legs can operate by pulling on a lever.
But with improvements in technology, the equipment will be more accessible to disabled children. One of the new features is the “boat-glider swing,” which lets children in wheelchairs swing simply by shifting the weight of their upper bodies back and forth, more closely mimicking the experience of those who have full use of their legs.
Claire Dudley, who designed the playground for the Parks Department, said she hoped the renovations would help increase the number of visitors to the playground.
“The park has always been beloved,” she said. “It’s going to open up its arms to the community again.”
Among other features, the playground will include “music walls” that ring a chime when hit and an accessible play village with houses, a school, cars and working traffic lights. Every feature of the playground is accessible to handicapped children.
About 30,000 people visit the park each year, and it is a destination for school groups of physically disabled children, Parks Department officials said.
The Parks Department expects to finish the project and reopen the playground in May 2003.
Former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman helped secure $3.9 million from the project, while state Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry (D-Corona) obtained $250,000.
“You are going to see more wonderful things in this park that you couldn’t even dream of in 1984,” Shulman said.
Borough President Helen Marshall emphasized the importance of having such facilities in Flushing Meadows.
“These are not people who can go to the Hamptons in the summertime,” she said. “This is their Hamptons.”
While all city playgrounds aim to accommodate the handicapped, the “Playground for All Children” will have more features suited for disabled children than any other in the city, Benepe said.
“This is the state-of-the-art in terms of accessibility for all levels of children,” he said. “It’s a destination playground, which will draw kids from all over the city.”
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300 Ext. 141.
