North Little Rock Parks and Recreation is NLR PROUD to have two inclusive playgrounds in our city!
Inclusive playgrounds provide access to play for children who have disabilities and limited options for barrier free play in our city and for adults who have disabilities and want to take their children and/or grandchildren to the playground. Our inclusive playgrounds have been thoughtfully designed to help meet the needs of community members who are often overlooked in project development.
Our inclusive playgrounds have poured-in-place rubber surfacing to better accommodate mobility devices such as wheelchairs, canes, and walkers. These surfaces are also more accommodating to small children and older adults who may struggle with balance.
Our inclusive playgrounds are fenced and gated to help keep little ones and those who like to wander safe in an enclosed area.
Our inclusive playgrounds have other specially designed play elements that are more inclusive of every body and ability. Elements such as wheelchair accessible merry-go-rounds, a wheelchair swing, roller slides, communication boards, swings that provide trunk support, and many other elements that help facilitate opportunities for kids of all ages and abilities to play together.
Our inclusive playgrounds are necessary, beautiful, and fun. Gather your children of all abilities and come play with us!
ONE HEART PLAYGROUND IN BURNS PARK
One Heart Playground was inspired by Emma Wasson. Emma was born with a congenital heart defect and Turner Syndrome. Through her difficult journey of hospital stays, surgeries, treatments, and medications, Emma always found JOY in the midst of hardship. You can find her smiling and singing almost every single day! Emma changed her parents’ life and hearts in ways that are unexplainable. One Heart Playground demonstrates some of the ways Emma has inspired her parents, friends, family, strangers, and the North Little Rock Parks and Recreation staff. You are born with “one heart” and we owe it to ourselves to keep it healthy and improve our quality of life. To find out more about Emma, you can follow her on Facebook at Totally Emma.
One Heart Playground was funded with help from generous donors, our Tip-Off Club Luncheon, and various North Little Rock city departments. It opened September 14, 2017. Since then we have added benches and shade structures. In 2019, we extended the playground with a wheel chair swing, an inclusive merry-go-round, and a communication board.
Special features of One Heart Playground:
- Poured-in-place surfacing
- Wheelchair swing
- Wheelchair accessible merry-go-round
- Wheelchair accessible play structure
- Wheelchair accessible rocker
- Musical play
- Communication Board
- Roller slide
- Fenced and gated
- Bathrooms close by in Burns Park – wheelchair accessible – no changing tables
LAMAN PLAZA PLAYGROUND BY THE LAMAN LIBRARY
The Laman Plaza Playground was built on the footprint of the old water fountain in Laman Plaza between the North Little Rock Community Center and the Laman Library and improves access to play for children with and without disabilities and teens from local low-income neighborhoods who use the William F. Laman Library as a community center. Renovations to the Laman Plaza provided the Laman Library and the North Little Rock Parks and Recreation Department more space to deliver safe community programs.
Laman Plaza is a destination for families, providing space to build community across economic barriers and abilities. Families of all demographics can spend the day in North Little Rock going between the library and the park/playground for free. Accessible parking and entrances to Laman Plaza are available from parking lots on the east and west side of Laman Library. Accessible bathrooms are available in William F. Laman Library. Laman Plaza Playground was opened December 14, 2021.
Special features of Laman Plaza Playground:
- Poured-in-place surfacing
- Inclusive Orbit swing
- Wheelchair accessible merry-go-round
- Wheelchair accessible play structure
- Wheelchair accessible rocker
- Musical play
- Communication Board
- Fenced and gated
- Bathrooms next door in Laman Library – wheelchair accessible – baby/toddler changing tables available
For more information about these playgrounds, contact 501-791-8538.