MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – Monday afternoon at Lower Harbor, the Community Foundation of Marquette County, along with volunteers from all over the community cut the ribbon on the new Kids Cove Playground.
“We all loved the kids cove as it was before, It was an amazing community effort, it was really a landmark for this community,” said Community Foundation of Marquette County CEO Zosia Eppensteiner. “This is the two version of the playground that allows us to truly be welcoming to kids of all abilities.”
The ribbon cutting comes after a four-year and 1.7 million dollar project to replace the old wooden structure with a state-of-the-art universal one that everyone can enjoy.
“We all can experience that at different times of our life,” said Eppensteiner. “Maybe we have a friend or a neighbor who has a disability, maybe we take care of an elderly parent who wants to come down here who wants to come down here with their grandchildren and enjoy family time together.”
The new equipment is meant to be not only artistically designed, but also safe for those with disabilities, and allow whole families to play together.
“From an ability perspective, it’s extremely important in the design,” said Eppensteiner. “But I think there is a universal aspect to the play itself that’s really powerful from just a family and community building perspective.”
The community seems to have embraced the new playground, as it’s already seen heavy use since its soft opening three weeks ago.
“There was a family playing on the swings, a dad in the adult swing and an infant in the infant swing,” said Eppensteiner. “And I realized as they were playing and smiling at each other, that the playground is universal in the way that families can play together.”
The playground is open to the public now at Lower Harbor park, for more information about the new playground check out the Kids Cove website.
