Lake Havasu parents press city for inclusive playgrounds, staff ask for prioritized wish list

Lake Havasu City Parks & Recreation officials heard an extended presentation from parents and local advocates at their October meeting calling for a phased program to make city playgrounds inclusive for people of all abilities.

"Our parks are beautiful, and we are grateful to the parks department for keeping them that way. But families like ours would like to enjoy them more," said Jillian Danielson, who introduced herself as a parent and longtime River Scene Magazine contributor. She described repeated difficulties her daughter faced on playground equipment and said rubber surfacing, wider and sensory slides, ramps and wheelchair-compatible swings are needed so children and adults with disabilities can use the parks independently. "Are all abilities kids and adults need ramps to slides? They need sensory slides, and they need large swings and wheelchair swings," Danielson said.

Advocates showed multiple short videos that documented the difficulty of pushing wheelchairs and strollers across wood chips and navigating curb lips. In one clip played for the board, a parent pushed a 40-pound…