Excerpt from: Chicago Tribune (click for full article)
After the wooden playground equipment at Friends Park was removed last month because a child received a minor injury from the 15-year-old apparatus, Glencoe Park District commissioners met Nov. 1 to discuss options to replace the equipment by next spring, at a cost that could reach $200,000.
One of the two residents who attended the meeting was Nancy Meyer, who was instrumental in the 2008 completion of Noah's Playground for Everyone in Evanston — a park designed to serve both disabled and able-bodied children.
Meyer, who now lives in Glencoe, said she wasn't sure Friends Park, located at Vernon Avenue and Tudor Court, was the right site for a similar endeavor. However, the previous equipment was not accessible for children with disabilities, or parents and grandparents with mobility issues, she said.
Another resident, Bob Footlik, agreed.
"Friends is an obvious place because it's such a signature park in town," he said.
Many commissioners also seemed to agree in theory, but voiced concern that Friends Park was not large enough for something similar to Noah's Park for Everyone, which includes a ramp system so children, even those in a wheelchair, can reach the playground's highest points.
The Park District is required to build new facilities to requirements set out in the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Commissioner Hilary Lee said a park designed for both children with handicaps and those that are able-bodied would be a good fit for Glencoe, which "has a huge proportion of special needs kids. People move here because of it."
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