ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont County Board of Developmental Disabilities created a fully inclusive playground at its facility on Hammond Road west of St. Clairsville.

The board had been working toward creating an all-inclusive playground since 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had to put the plans on the back burner.

During its unveiling on Tuesday, Development Disabilities Superintendent Gloria Llewellyn said that recently, she and her team were able to revisit the goal of creating the playground and searched for a company to partner with to create the vision.

She said they were able to partner with DWA Manufacturing, which is a regional representative of Gametime Manufacturing.

“What’s really nice is that we have all smooth transitions, so if there is a child with a physical disability and they need to use some sort of device — whether it’s a wheelchair, a walker, anything to help them — there are no transitions that will impede them from being able to play alongside their peers,” Llewellyn said. “There’s a ramp that someone can get up onto the play unit. You don’t have to actually get out of your wheelchair to be able to do that. We have a communication board. So for children that do not use words to speak, there’s pictures and icons and things that they can do, that they can communicate with their families, teachers, aides and their caregivers.”

She added that the playground was funded collaboratively through the use of American Rescue Plan Act and Community Action Commission of Belmont County funds.

The new playground is open to the public, but Llewellyn said that residents wanting to use the unit should contact the Board of DD first so they can be informed of the rules for the playground to ensure everyone’s safety.

“Our building is open to the public. In order to just make sure you understand the playground, we ask that you call our building first. We have a facilities coordinator, and then we’ll go over what the rules are and make sure people know how to access it easily,” she said. “We don’t actually schedule the playground out, because it’s outside and people can play on it. But we have other resources in our building that we do schedule out. So, we again just ask that you call. We try to be a resource for our public school districts here. In addition to this, we have a wiggle room, a sensory room, a pool, a gym and a track. So we just try to make sure that we’re fully accessible to children.”

DWA Recreation Territory Manager Taylor Kolanko said the playground’s design incorporates a lot of inclusive elements.

“Most playgrounds have to meet the ADA minimum for accessibility, but this design is intended for that next step of inclusivity, whether you’re talking about rubberized surfacing in itself, or the actual items that you see on the unit,” Kolanko said. “Children — and parents, for that matter — that are in mobility devices may go up their own ramps every single day, but to actually provide some form of a play element on the actual ramp in itself, and then also the second ramp here. You have balancing elements for that parallel play, so someone that may be on a mobility device but then someone that may be able bodied that can do some balancing elements can do parallel play together. Really, those are some of the key elements from inclusivity to promote the additional challenge, and then also the sociability aspect of it.”

The playground has ramps, handicapable swings, slides, a rocking boat for individuals using a wheelchair and many other aspects for children of all ages to enjoy.