PHOTOS: Inclusive Arch Street Park Playground A Joy For All

Friday, June 4, 2021 at 2:20 PM

The new and improved playground officially opened on Friday.

Lawrenceburg Mayor Kelly Mollaun cuts the ribbon to officially open the new and improved Arch Street Park Playground. Photo by Travis Thayer, Eagle Country 99.3.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) - The new and improved Arch Street Park can be described as "breathtaking".

The City of Lawrenceburg reopened the park on Friday afternoon, complete with a brand-new inclusive playground for all ages and abilities. The park had been closed since late December for the rehabilitation project.

The wait was well worth it.

City officials and the Arch Street Playground Committee were joined for a rededication and ribbon cutting ceremony by a crowd of children and adults that were eager to see what the new park is all about.

The park features ADA accessible Hybrid Structure, more swings, Shadow Play Tri Runner, Rox All See Saw, Merry Go Round, Infinity Bowl, and Synthetic Turf. The Arch Street Park Playground is also a National Demonstration Site featuring seven principles of inclusive playground design.

"I want to really thank all the people that had any kind of involvement in this project," said Mayor Kelly Mollaun. I would have never imagined a better project. The way this turned out is just phenomenal."

GameTime, a leading manufacturer of inclusive playgrounds, awarded the City with a $190,403 grant to help make the playground possible. Lawrenceburg also committed over $550,000 to the project with support from City Council. The Arch Street Park Playground Committee was tasked with playground design.

"This is a great investment that the City put forth," Mollaun added. "But you know what, council they couldn't think of a better thing to invest in than our kids. They all have a heart for kids, and we want to make sure that our community has the best of what we can supply and provide for them."

The Arch Street Playground Committee deserves a lot of praise for the way the project turned out. The group, led by Mayor Mollaun, consists of Salle Johns, Joe Vogelgesang, Erin, Nicole & Taylor Ratliff, Grace Brown, A.J. Waltz, Connie Knue, Tina Zint, Bonnie Vise, Guinevere Emery & Mario Todd.

“I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge Mayor Kelly Mollaun and his entire staff and team, as well as Mario Todd and his group, and the entire beautiful City of Lawrenceburg for not accepting the status quo for designing just any playground for Arch Street Park. But instead truly developing and designing a play space for children, families, caregivers, all people of all ages and all abilities to have the opportunity to play alongside each other and together as a community, as a community should,” a GameTime spokesperson said.

Mayor Mollaun added that George Street Park will be updated next year with the same concept as Arch Street and Ludlow Hill playgrounds.