Eric Brown can remember the anxiety he felt at recess back when he was a kid at Rockford’s Westview Elementary School.
The playground where his friends ran and climbed and swung was surrounded by a thick wooden border. It was a simple hop onto the wood chips for them, but a near impossible balancing act and step down for a kid with cerebral palsy.
As part of a planned $10.5 million renovation of Davis Park, Rockford officials are planning a 6,000-square-foot universally designed destination playground that should never leave a child on the outside looking in.
Officials say it is expected to go beyond merely accessible and could become a regional draw for families with children of various ability levels.
Now 38, Brown, the systems advocacy coordinator for RAMP, said that — to the credit of parents, school staff and Rockford Public Schools administrators — the playground at Westview was renovated before his time there was over.
He was finally able to play with his friends without the worry.
“I always remember being in elementary school and going, ‘I can’t, by myself, step onto these woodchips without feeling like I’m going to fall.'” Brown said. “And I remember them making some changes so that I could step onto the playground without feeling insecure. I just remember that feeling of my friends going on the playground, wanting to go too and now that it’s built in an accessible way, I’m able to do that.”