EDITORIAL An all-inclusive effort: Plans for special-needs park for kids deserve community support Read more: The Mountain Press - EDITORIAL An all inclusive effort Plans for special needs park for kids deserve community support

It’s called Project Sevier, and it deserves recognition, support and praise from this community for its intended purpose. A group from 2011 class of Leadership Tomorrow is trying to raise money to construct a special-needs playground for children, an all-inclusive park where the disabled or handicapped can go and play among equipment designed just for them.

Lisa Bremer, Cecil Page II and Darren Bailey were grouped during their Leadership Tomorrow experience and took on the playground as their special community project. They had noticed disabled children watching while other kids played at area parks, and it bothered them. Rather than just complain and express concern, they took it on themselves to do something.

They were given a tract of land next to LeConte Medical Center. They created a nonprofit organization. And now they are raising the money. That last part is a daunting challenge. The park they need to build will cost around $100,000. It has to be have specially made equipment, be wheelchair-accessible, and include a rubber floor that accommodates wheelchairs and active children.

The all-inclusive park, as they are calling it, would be a wonderful addition to Sevier County. It will give all kids, whether handicapped or able, a chance to play and have a good time. It’s hard to know how many special-needs kids would welcome the park, but it has to be hundreds. It’s really not fair that more public parks here do not accommodate such children.

A groundbreaking for the park is scheduled for 11 a.m. Nov. 2 at the corner of Middle Creek and Millwood roads in Sevierville. In the meantime, if you feel motivated to help, contact Bremer at 368-5455 or email to projectsevier@gmail.com. You can get even more information about the park on the Project Sevier blog at http://projectsevier.blogspot.com and on the group’s Facebook page.

Printed in the Mountain Press on October 21, 2011

A Place to Play (Article in The Mountain Press)

A Place to Play: Group working to create all-inclusive playground

by GAIL CRUTCHFIELD

8 hrs ago | 0  | 0  |  | 

A child’s playground is usually a happy place, with the sights and sounds of children running around, climbing jungle gyms and pushing their feet toward the sky on swing sets.

But one small group of people noticed how children confined to wheelchairs or otherwise unable to utilize the traditional playground equipment were left on the sidelines to watch other children enjoy those amenities. That group is now working to generate the funds needed to create an all-inclusive playground specially designed for children with special needs.

Project Sevier began as a community project out of the 2011 class of Leadership Tomorrow, a program of Leadership Sevier that provides adults 40 and younger insight into the community and encourages service projects.

Lisa Bremer, Cecil Page II and Darren Bailey were grouped during their tenure in Leadership Sevier and took on as their project the idea of providing a place to play for special-needs children. None of them have special-needs children of their own.

Their goal during their time in Leadership Tomorrow was to get the land donated. Their job was to follow up on their own after they graduated from Leadership Tomorrow, and make sure the project didn’t stall.

The group applied for status as a non-profit agency and, working with the city of Sevierville, was donated a small tract of land next to LeConte Medical Center. The group will host a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. Nov. 2 at the site near the corner of Millwood and Middle Creek drives.

The groundbreaking will cap almost a year’s worth of planning and effort by the three individuals who saw a need and decided to do something about it.

“The challenge with Leadership Tomorrow is, you have to do a community service project,” Bremer said. “They said to think of something that would make a big change for years to come. So I guess we went above and beyond in thinking about this project.”

Bremer and Page said they all saw how much an all-inclusive park was needed while at a picnic held for their Leadership Tomorrow class.

“We had program day out at Pigeon Forge Park,” Page said. “There was a group of kids out there, and there were six kids in wheelchairs sitting outside the park just watching the other kids play. That touched us.”

They approached the children and started playing catch with them and talking to them about things they would like to be able to do on a playground.

“We asked what they wished they could do and what they would like,” Page said.

Among their wishes was the ability to swing. “Something we take for granted,” Page said.

Page said the closest all-inclusive park is located more than an hour away.

Bremer said the playground at Trula Lawson is wheelchair-accessible, but it’s closed to the public at the end of the school day and during the summer. They asked staff at the school for input on the design of a park that can be used by everyone, not only those with special needs.

The biggest expense will be the more than $20,000 for the rubber flooring that allows easy maneuverability for wheelchairs.

“We’re hoping there is some company out there that would be willing to put the rubber flooring down, because they can put their logo in the floor,” Bremer said. They’re looking for sponsors for that.

Equipment to install includes activity centers themed after rescue vehicles such as fire trucks, ambulances and police cars, plus swings and even a rock wall.

“Our plan is to have a rock wall that is not a steep one, but is for kids with special needs as well,” Bremer said.

In all, the group needs to raise around $100,000. Bremer and Page said once built, the park will be maintained by the city of Sevierville.

If it were up to Bremer, the playground would already be a reality.

“I’m hoping,” she said, “we get it completed before Feb. 1.”

Page said he can’t wait to see the playground built and in use.

“Not only will it be gratifying for us personally, but for the community itself,” he said. “There are so many kids in our county right now that struggle with special needs. We’re doing a disservice in not stepping out of the box and helping.”

Those willing to help can contact Bremer at 368-5455 or by email to projectsevier@gmail.com. More information is available on the Project Sevier blog at http://projectsevier.blogspot.com and on the group’s Facebook page.

Read more: The Mountain Press - A Place to Play Group working to create all inclusive playground 

Ground Breaking Date Set

Project Sevier, Inc. is made up of the following:

Lisa Bremer, President

Cecil Page II, Vice President

Darren Bailey, Secretary/Treasurer