New playground would enable children with disabilities to play, too

Mayor John Rhodes is working to bring a year-round playground for children with disabilities to Myrtle Beach.

“It’s something that has been missing in our city,” Rhodes told Myrtle Beach City Council members on Tuesday.

So he formed a nonprofit organization, Savannah’s Playground, to build a $1 million 4.5 acre facility behind Crabtree Gymnasium on the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base. Rhodes said he’s raised about $300,000 so far in state and county funds.

The playground will belong to the city and be overseen by city staff, but the nonprofit will fund the facility’s construction and replacement of any equipment, Rhodes said.

Savannah’s Playground, which is referred to as an “enabling park,” will include a number of components, such as a music park, adapted paddle boats and a challenge ropes course and zipline, that will allow children with disabilities to take part.

The Grand Strand Miracle Leagues, an organization whose purpose is to give people with special needs access to sports and recreational activities, has a playground that is available to children during its sporting events, but secured when those games are over.

Savannah’s Playground would be open year-round, Rhodes said. They playground is named for 18-year-old Savannah Thompson, a student at Socastee High School who plays soccer and baseball with the Grand Strand Miracle Leagues.

Anthony Troiani, a special education teacher at Myrtle Beach High School, said having a facility like Savannah’s Playground would be a game-changer.

“I’ve never had anything like this available to any of my students,” he said. “I’ve never even seen this and I think it’s amazing.”

Troiani said the facility also could benefit adults who’ve never had an opportunity to play on a playground.

“When you’ve been in a wheelchair your whole life, you’ve never had your whole body move at the one time,” he said. “For [adults] to be able to participate in a playground has never happened before for them.”

Rhodes said the playground would not only be a benefit to the children with disabilities who live in the Grand Strand, but also would be a selling point to tourists.

“There’s a market in our nation of families that have children with special needs that like to go on vacation,” he said. “Everywhere you go that has facilities for their children is expensive. This playground will be free. The beach is free. Myrtle Beach is not an expensive place to visit. We will not be able to open up another market to those who have children with special needs.”

The playground is proposed to have an early childhood play area for children up to age 5; a picnic area under some trees; a school age play area for children ages 5 to 12; an interactive play area featuring equipment that can be manipulated such as a large tic-tac-toe board; a musical park with large musical instruments such as xylophones; a challenge ropes course and zipline; a pier and adapted paddle boats in the lake along the fitness trail; and a swing set and water play park near the pond by Crabtree.

“This playground can be used by handicapped children and able-bodied children alike,” said Dan Lambert, with DDC Engineers, who designed the playground. “We want to make those who have disabilities feel like they can do things any other kids can do,”he said.

Rhodes said he is raising money by soliciting donations, applying for grants and any other way he is able to. Horry County Council Chairman Mark Lazarus said the county has pledged $100,000 from its recreation budget for the project. And Rhodes said Sen. Luke Rankin has secured $200,000 in state money.

“Raising money is never easy, but for a cause like this I think it should be significantly easier,” Lambert said.

Rhodes said he hopes that crews are able to begin construction on the early childhood and school age play areas as well as the musical park in January with plans to open those components by July.

Councilman Michael Chestnut said he thinks the facility would be a good addition to the things Myrtle Beach offers.

“When you think about all of the things that we take for granted ... there are some kids, and some adults, who would never be able to do something like this without this park.”

For more information about Savannah’s Playground, visit http://savannahsplayground.org.

This story was originally published December 9, 2014 at 8:10 PM with the headline "New playground would enable children with disabilities to play, too."