Hundreds of children squealed and ran while their parents tried keeping up with them during the grand opening of Hannah’s Hope Playground in Portage, which city officials called the first all-inclusive playground.
The playground, which includes specially designed equipment that allows children of all abilities to play together, is a key part of Founders Square, the city’s burgeoning downtown, and it is flanked by a splash pad and the Promenade at Founders Square, a mixed-use development.
Mary Martinez, a neonatal intensive care nurse in Liberty Township, smiled at the turnout Oct. 29, but she said her emotions were mixed. The playground began in honor of her daughter, Hannah Martinez, who died in 2012 after a three-year struggle with a number of disabilities.
Mary and Michael Martinez, Hannah’s parents, launched Hannah’s Hope, a nonprofit that provides financial help for treatment and equipment for children with special needs.
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“I obviously wish Hannah was here with me, but I know, with all the kids that are here playing, she’s here with them,” Mary Martinez said. “The fact that the sun’s shining, and it was supposed to snow and rain today, I know that Hannah’s here with us.”
The 17,000-square-foot playground, at the base of the city’s water tower and just north of its new fire station, features a bank of eight different kinds of swings, colorful climbing equipment, a see-saw that can accommodate children who cannot climb on themselves and much more.
Each piece of equipment, all of it purchased from Sinclair Recreation in Holland, Mich., features a sticker with a bar code that parents and caretakers can scan to get more information on developmental exercises for children with special needs.
The equipment is colorful, with textured pieces, and swings wide enough to fit parents and children and rollers for kids with mobility issues to scoot along with friends and siblings. Also, the ground is covered with a special padding that won’t slow down wheelchairs like mulch will, said Niki Avina, of Highland, who oversaw much of the fundraising and planning for the playground.
Volunteers handled most of the work in erecting the playground, she said.
“There’s so much in the news that’s terrible and so many things you see where people aren’t community, and then you show up at something like this and you realize people, without getting paid, are digging holes for this equipment,” Avina said. “And, each and every post, every piece, every bolt, thousands and thousands of them, were put in buy local volunteers.”
Kelly Martinez, no relation to Mary and Mike Martinez, saw her son Reuben cut the ribbon Sunday and lead a procession of kids into the playground.
“It’s fantastic,” she said. “Reuben can play on it. Kids like Reuben can play on it. He’s playing with his sisters. His sisters’ friends are here. We have family here. It’s a fun environment for everybody.”
Michael Gonzalez is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.