Gerald E. Talbot Community (formerly Riverton) School Playground
“Children have fun playing with other kids on the playground, but kids with disabilities must often sit on the sidelines…” says Ann Hanna, Principal of Talbot Community School.
The completed playground at Talbot Community School
But don’t all kids deserve to play? On the playground children get healthy exercise and learn crucial development skills. We can’t leave any of them on the sidelines.
That’s where the Portland Parks Conservancy comes in. One of our top priorities is to make outdoor recreation more accessible. At Talbot School, the City had the funds to make the playground ADA accessible–but that’s a bare minimum standard. PPC partnered with the City to add equipment that will enable children with disabilities to enjoy outdoor play alongside their peers on specially-designed swings, a merry-go-around, and surfacing they can all play on together: that’s an ADA inclusive playground. The Riverton Playground is the only ADA inclusive playground within 40 miles of Portland.
As Principal Hanna says, “With equipment and surfacing that will make the playground more accessible for children with disabilities, any child who comes to the Riverton School playground will have the opportunity for inclusive play and active fun with their peers.”
The Bangor Savings Bank Foundation and the Edward H. Daveis Benevolent Fund of the Maine Community Foundation each donated funds to help make this dream come true, and the playground opened just in time for the 2020 school year!
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