OREM — Seven-year-old Presley Gleason is like any other child. She plays with her sister, has an adventurous personality and loves to go on play dates.
"Presley is the most confident little girl you will ever meet in your life. She is strutting her stuff in her chair," said Mindy Gleason, Presley's mother.
Presley has spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress. It paralyzes her diaphragm and contributes to her low muscle tone. The condition binds Presley to a wheelchair, but her mom believes it does not define her.
"It's just really hard to see your daughter want to interact and play," she said. "Other kids want to play with her too, but … they are just not able to play alongside each other."
The wheelchair restricts Presley from playing on normal park playgrounds. Mindy Gleason approached Orem city officials about adding a park accessible to children of all levels, and the "All-Together Playground" was born.
"To be able to allow them to play with other children who are able-bodied, and for other children to be able to see that they are just regular kids and they just want to play just like them, I just think it's beneficial for everyone," she said.
Steven Downs, assistant to the city manager of Orem, said the city is working to make the idea a reality by transforming City Center Park on Orem's Center Street into the new accessible park, which would be twice as big as the current park.
"In order to be accessible to children specifically in wheelchairs, we can't use stairs; we have to use ramps, which requires a lot more space," Downs said. "There won't be woodchips. There will be a poured in place rubber surface, so that the children won't get stuck in the woodchips."
The playground is designed to promote the healthy development of all children's physical, social, cognitive and sensory abilities. It will cost the city $1 million to build. Downs said the equipment will cost close to $600,000 and the rest will be needed to make the bathrooms more accessible.
The city put $150,000 toward the project using the Orem CARE tax. Many local organizations have already pitched in with volunteers. City officials hope to start construction in September.
The team heading the build is accepting donations at www.alltogetherplayground.com and on its GoFundMe page under All-Together Playground.
Email: amoser@deseretnews.com