Owen’s Playground is a project in honor of Owen Marshall. Owen lived six years on this earth with cerebral palsy and passed away in October of 2013. After his passing many began to give to his memorial fund that began the seeding for Owen’s Playground. This playground is set at Rotary Park, a Bainbridge Island Metro Park and Recreation District’s park. The purpose of this park is to remember Owen as well as provide the community with a boundary-free place of play.

 

There were eight priorities built into the planning for this park and they were:

 

1. Smooth, safe, accessible surfaces throughout the playground, ensuring that children and caregivers who utilize mobility devices are able to fully experience and enjoy outdoor play/recreation.

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2. Clear sight lines so that children on the playground can be seen by caregivers including those with hearing impairments and those whose attention may be divided between very young children and/or children in strollers and mobility devices.

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3. Quality, accessible, multi-sensory play opportunities including those that incorporate scent, textures, sound, vision and provide proprioceptive and vestibular input.

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4. Unstructured, creative play opportunities such as sand and water play and chalk art/surfaces.

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5. Inspiring, fun art throughout the playground. Emphasis will be placed on color, sound, texture and art that inspires, engages, stimulates and, where applicable, is interactive.

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6. Natural design elements throughout the playground to include such things as boulders, driftwood, sand, rock and native and ornamental plants. 

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7.  Circular seating where parents, caregivers and community members can casually enjoy the playground setting and be invited to engage one another in conversation. 

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8. Adaptive play equipment that allows children with different abilities access to quality play.” ("Owen's Playground: The Story." 'Owen's Playground' N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2016.)

 

My participation in this park happened upon my arrival to Washington. I helped with planning the grand opening of Owen’s Playground on July 16. I started attending meetings with BIMPRD as we met with Owen’s mom, the project manager, and many others involved in the long process of Owen’s Playground.

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The day of the grand opening just about everyone involved in the project was on site making sure all was ready to go by noon. The event was set to start at 4p and set up was on time. The grand opening included the musical talent of Clinton Fearon, a Parks booth, a popcorn booth, a face-painting booth, and a pinwheel-making booth. Along with these activities we provided hotdogs and hamburgers to the guests as they explored the creative space that is now Owen’s Playground.

 

It was truly an honor to be a part of this event. Although my part was small, it could not have happened without each and every person that played his or her own small parts. Owen’s symbol was a pinwheel and I was able to make 50 giant pinwheels as decoration for the grounds during the opening. My favorite part of the day was taking those pinwheels down and handing them out to those children that were able to experience play in a way like never before and it was all thanks to those who worked so hard to launch Owen’s Playground.