SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — A new place to play is now in Scranton. The city celebrated the grand opening of the Butterfly Playground, a fully accessible space inside Nay Aug Park designed for children and adults of all abilities.
What used to be a parking lot is now a place where everyone can play.
"Oh, I've already seen the kids in here playing, and it makes you really happy. You put a smile on your face to see them enjoying it," said volunteer Doris Koloski.
The Butterfly Playground in Nay Aug Park is Scranton's newest inclusive play space, featuring accessible ramps and a merry-go-round built into the surface, so kids of all abilities can ride.
"This project has equipment that's totally handicap accessible, which we don't see enough of in our region," said Thom Welby, vice chair of the Scranton Municipal Recreation Authority.
"I think the idea was that they could all intermingle and I'll enjoy the stuff together and not have them separated out, and just so the kids could socialize," said Koloski.
The nearly $400,000 project was funded through a state casino grant, administered by the city, with support from lawmakers and local volunteers.
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"The volunteers up here, they've been having donut sales, just basket raffles, bingos, anything to raise money," explained Welby.
That extra money added activity panels throughout the playground. This is just phase one.
City leaders say future phases will include additional age-specific areas, all part of an all-inclusive discovery corridor.
"We added paved ADA parking spaces to the adjacent parking lot here and then added an ADA accessible route to the playground, and the pour and play system is actually a granular rubber that's bound," said Mike Lachman, landscape architect at Barry Issett & Associates.
Making it wheelchair accessible and cleaner.
"Playground projects are always the fun ones because you get to see the kids enjoy it after the fact, it's not so much the ribbon-cutting after all that's done. It's coming back out and seeing the kids run around and play on the playground," explained Lachman.
The Butterfly Playground is now open to the public at Nay Aug Park. With this ribbon cutting, Scranton sends a clear message: Play is for everyone.
