Cirque Park family restrooms installed, inclusive playground completes multi‑year project, resident says

At the Sept. 15 council meeting, University Place resident Chris Saunders, speaking for the University Place Parks and Recreation Foundation, announced the completion of an inclusive playground at Cirque Park and said family restrooms have been installed and parking lot striping is pending finalization. Saunders described the project as a three‑and‑a‑half‑year effort and urged the city to adopt inclusive playground standards for future projects so children and adults who use mobility devices are not excluded.

Saunders said the foundation and volunteers led fundraising and project coordination and thanked council and the community for support. She described the playground as intended to serve both able‑bodied users and people with disabilities, noting that without inclusive design “we tend to leave out 15% of our children and adults supervising kids at the playground who have mobility devices.” Saunders said the final work — striping and site wrap‑up — was underway at the time of her remarks.

Council members who later spoke praised the community volunteers and cited the playground as an example of successful citizen‑initiated projects that have produced community amenities. Saunders’ comments were given during the public‑comment portion of the meeting; no council action was required or taken on the playground at the Sept. 15 session.