If fundraising efforts are successful, an inclusive playground for children with disabilities will be built in Linn.
The playground is planned to be located at the corner of U.S. 50 and Route CC at the Lions Club Fairgrounds.
Osage County Special Services is partnering with Unlimited Play in St. Peters to do the fundraising and eventual construction of this project. Unlimited Play is a nonprofit organization that builds inclusive playgrounds to promote health and wellness. They've built such facilities in Waynesville, Salem and the Kansas City area as well as in Illinois and other parts of the country.
"Back in the day, playgrounds weren't designed to include people with disabilities," Osage County Special Services Executive Director Megan Reichart said. "It's important to have interaction between those kids who have no disabilities and those that do. We want them to play side by side.
"Play is such a big part of a child's development. Kids have different abilities, but every kid wants to play."
Reichart said she happened to see an inclusive playground on a trip with her family and her children enjoyed interacting with the other children. She kept that in the back of her mind, and the local community has been very supportive of the idea, she said.
Unlimited Play Project Manager Jim Vollmer said the facility not only will serve children with disabilities, but also will allow adults with disabilities to access the park so they can bring their children or grandchildren to play there.
"The cost is estimated at $350,000 and would include a splash pad," Vollmer said. "We're probably going to be able to get the concrete work done as an in-kind donation, but everything else we're still looking for donations for."
The playground will include spongy surfacing, ramps, specialized seating and handholds, high-back swings, and a stainless steel and molded slide.
As this is a rural area, the theme for the playground will be a farm.
"I do believe it will be a destination visit," Reichart said. "Kids on school field trips or people passing through on the highway can stop and enjoy it. I'm sure folks from Cole, Gasconade and Maries counties will come, too. It will get a lot of use."
Vollmer said the playground took nine months to develop and design, so now it all depends on how fast the funding becomes available. Fundraising usually takes a year or two, with construction then taking three months to complete, he said.
"We've already raised $70,000 - and that's with no corporate funding, just word of mouth," said Tracy Winslow, a member of the Linn Lions Club Board who is part of the community group that has gotten the idea to this point. "When we say all-inclusive, we mean that anyone with a disability, say those that use a wheelchair, will be able to use this equipment."
People can make donations to fund individual apparatus at the park and would have their name put on the piece of equipment, Winslow said.