Special-needs playground in Atascadero gets $500,000 boost, could open within a year

A long-planned special-needs playground in Atascadero recently got much closer to becoming a reality.

Parents for Joy, the nonprofit dedicated to building the inclusive Joy Playground — which will feature play surfaces accessible for all children, including those without muscle coordination or certain sensory functions — received $505,000 in Parkland Facilities Fee reserve money from the city.

The city in February applied for a nearly $750,000 state grant through the Housing Related Park program, hoping to allocate a portion of the money for Joy Playground and a portion for improvements at Atascadero Lake Park, according to a city staff report.

But Atascadero officials in July learned the city received only about $350,000 in grant money — less than they’d hoped for.

Ultimately, the City Council voted on Nov. 28 to use the grant money on Atascadero Lake Park and dip into its Parkland Facilities Fees — which are collected from new developments to help pay for park expansions and new facilities — to fund Joy Playground, which has been in the works for nearly five years.

“The Parents for Joy playground has been a huge priority of this council and the community for such a long time,” City Manager Rachelle Rickard said at the meeting. “... It’s an amazing park project, and so it would be exciting to get this project off the ground.”

The playground will be built on city land behind the Colony Park Community Center off Traffic Way. Parents for Joy has raised nearly $100,000 in addition to the city money, so the group would need to acquire $150,000 to have all the money it needs for the facility, said Sarah Sullivan, a Parents for Joy founder. The total cost is expected to be around $750,000.

But the $505,000 will allow Parents for Joy to break ground in May, like the group planned, Sullivan said. They hope to open the park by the end of 2018.

“It was amazing,” she said. “We were just like, ‘Yay, Atascadero!’ We’re so happy we chose to put the playground in this city.”

Councilwoman Heather Moreno thanked Sullivan and Jenell Allen, another co-founder, for their efforts during the hearing to earmark the money.

“Sarah, you and Jenell and several parents came here a little over four years ago and talked to us and said, ‘Hey, we’ve got this need and this great idea,’ ” she said. “Here you are today, all the work that you and many others have put into it, just — congratulations.”

To donate to Parents for Joy or learn more about Joy Playground, visit parentsforjoy.org.

A similar special-needs play area is also in the works in South County. Jack Ready Imagination Park in Nipomo will be a universally accessible playground for all children.

This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 4:06 PM with the headline "Special-needs playground in Atascadero gets $500,000 boost, could open within a year."