CYNDI MURRAY PHOTO | Southold Town’s Reichert Family ADA Playground will officially open to the public on Thursday.
After three years of work it’s time to play. The Reichert Family ADA Playground will open to the public on Thursday. The playground is the first in Southold to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act – allowing greater access for the handicapped.
The new playground, located on Peconic Lane, will feature adaptive swings, play centers and picnic tables.
“It is a great thing,” said Nancy Foote, of the town’s department of public works. “We are delighted to see it finished.”
Mattituck resident Karly Taplin-Lucarelli got the ball rolling three years ago when she pitched the project at a parks and recreation department meeting.
“I thought it was important to have an ADA park in the community I grew up in,” Ms. Lucarelli said. “Play is important.”
A special education teacher at Just Kids Early Learning Center in Cutchogue, Ms. Lucarelli said the physically impaired children in her class motivated her to build the town’s first handicapped accessable park.
“My husband and I wanted to be able to bring our daughter to a playground where she can interact with children and adults with a wide variety of disabilities,” she said. “We feel it is important to be understanding and compassion at a young age.”
The ribbon cutting ceremony will be held on Thursday at Tasker Park on Peconic Lane in Peconic.