For the second consecutive year, Peoria Heights’ Together We Play Park proposal is a finalist for the Build Peoria grant that would go toward construction of a truly accessible-to-all playground in Tower Park.
The winner is chosen by popular vote, so Heights residents who would like to see this park built are encouraged to do so now by going to the Build Peoria website to weigh in. The deadline to do so is Tuesday, May 31. You can read about the finalists here.
Last year, the playground finished a close second in balloting for the program, which provides up to $50,000 toward construction. Build Peoria is a non- profit organization dedicated to “unite thecommunity through their love of the Peoria area to physically build Peoria into a better place and leave a legacy for future generations.”
Few projects fit that description better than the
“Together We Play Accessible Playground” proposal, which has students at St. Thomas Catholic School in Peoria Heights partnering
with Advocates for Access to construct a playground at Tower Park that would be accessible to children of all abilities.
The concept was born out of a pre-COVID era FIRST LEGO League Challenge, an international competition that asks teams of fourth through eighth graders to identify a real-world challenge and come up with a solution. Students at St. Thomas discovered that the Peoria area has more than 14,000 residents living with disabilities who could benefit from having a park that would be more accessible to them. That includes not only children who would play at the park but the parents and grandparents who might have disabilities and would bring them there.
The St. Thomas team led by then-eighth grader Katie Kube – now a high schooler – addressed the Heights Village Board in December 2020 and received permission to begin raising
funds to renovate
the existing playground at Tower Park. Out of that came the Together We Play effort, the partnership with Advocates for Access in Peoria Heights and the effort to begin raising funds.
The students have put together a budget for the park of about $125,000, which they hope to raise through donations and grants like this one. The playground would have a slightly larger footprint than the current one. If funding in excess of the goal is achieved, priority would be given to additions to the plan that would be likely to increase engagement among those with hearing, walking and/or sight impairments.
Meanwhile, the effort has made significant progress in the last few months, with the Village soliciting requests for proposals and hoping to break ground later this summer.
In the words of the Together We Play team, “If we don’t get to meet children in wheelchairs, or kids with impairments, then we will never learn how to act around them.”
In short, an “inclusive playgrounds help lay the groundwork for a truly inclusive society.”
Again, the voting closes at midnight Tuesday, May 31. The winner will be announced June 3.
“This is an extremely worthwhile project, the
kids have demonstrated a real need, and we at
the Village support it 100 percent,” said Mayor Michael Phelan. “We hope our residents get behind it, starting with this very simple process of casting an online vote.”