Zachary’s Playground

Playgrounds are sanctuaries for young children, where little feet and imaginations should find no boundaries.

However, “should” is the keyword. For Zachary Blakemore, playgrounds meant tears, boundaries, and exclusion. Blakemore is among the 49.7 million Americans who suffer from a disability, according to the U.S. Census Bureau in 2000. With nearly 20 percent of the population living with a disability, efforts should be increased to build accessible playgrounds throughout the nation.

Accessibility is an important consideration for the child and the parent. A parent should be able to see their child’s nose-wrinkling grin after conquering an enormous slide or their discouraged eyes from their first attempt at the monkey bars. Children should not be forced to sit on the sidelines because the playground surfacing stands in the way of their wheelchairs.

By choosing surfacing for a playground that is difficult for wheelchairs and walkers to maneuver on and prosthetic limbs to walk on, vital growth and learning opportunities are eliminated for many children with disabilities. Besides not being able to play, they lose the opportunity to interact with the children on the playground.

However, surfacing is only the beginning of accessibility. A truly accessible playground is defined perfectly in Unlimited Play’s vision statement. It is a place...

 “where all challenges and limitations, created by disabilities, are forgotten. A place where all children can play and interact side by side, developing understanding and respect for their similarities and differences.”

Unlimited Play is a nonprofit founded by Natalie and Todd Blakemore and Karena Romstadt-Eoff, dedicated to building accessible playgrounds. Their first accessible playground, Zachary’s Playground, is in Lake Saint Louis, MO, and covers about 15,000 square feet. The playground has countless features designed for children with all different types of disabilities.

Zachary’s Playground

Poured-in-place surfacing allows easy maneuvering for wheelchairs and walkers. Wherever anyone can get walking, ramps are found. A splashpark and shading structures allow those with problems regulating their body temperature a chance to cool down so they can finally say, “Mom, can’t I stay and play longer?” Children who don’t have the torso or neck strength for a regular swing can soar in the accessible swings that have supportive backs. There is even braille.

Many sensory-related activities are found throughout the equipment, designed especially for children with autism. Two examples are an enormous climbing gym made of thick red ropes and a climbing rock with natural texture. A variety of swinging activities are also offered, which children with autism find peaceful and calming. Metal slides, including a rolling slide, allow children with cochlear implants to play safely. The static from plastic slides can shut down their cochlear implant.

Unlimited Play is working on funding for four more playgrounds to allow other families the same joy of having an all-inclusive playground in their community. Potential location sites include O’Fallon, MO; St. Charles, MO; Pittsburg, KS; and Syracuse, UT. A few months after the opening of Zachary's Playground, Unlimited Play’s second playground opens in Clayton, MO, a suburb of St. Louis.

Inspiration Behind Zachary’s Playground

Natalie Blakemore was the driving force behind Unlimited Play’s founding and the building of Zachary’s Playground. Her story began with her son Zachary.

Almost before the tires stopped rolling, click, click, slam, Brianna and Cassi were out of the van, disappearing over the hill. “Last one there’s a monkey’s uncle,” Brianna squealed to her younger sister, who was desperately trying to keep her sandals on as she ran. Neither could be last to the playground. The girls reached the swings as Natalie Blakemore, their mother, opened the trunk to wrestle the heavy wheelchair out and onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Zachary’s giggles and squeals echoed throughout not just the van, but the entire parking lot. By the time Natalie could get him to stop wiggling with excitement long enough to unbuckle him, lift him out of his seat, and buckle him into his wheelchair, five minutes had passed. The girls had conquered the slides, swings, monkey bars, and tunnels by the time their older brother Zachary arrived.

Then came Natalie’s choice, although she only saw one option. In theory, she could let Zach sit on the sidelines and watch, but she knew it would break his heart and hers. Without fail, even while pregnant, she pushed his wheelchair as far as she could through the mulch or rocks, carried her son up the stairs, through every tunnel, down each slide, and then headed wherever he squealed to go next.

“She didn’t ever complain that it was too hard or that her back hurt,” Cherilynn Grant, Natalie’s best friend, said. “I’ve carried him and he is not light.”

Completely drained, Natalie loaded her children into the van, turned the key, and drove home, eyelashes damp. She never wanted to return. Playgrounds only magnified Zach’s limitations from Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease, defined as “a rare, progressive, degenerative central nervous system disorder in which coordination, motor abilities, and intellectual function deteriorate.”

All this changed in 2002 when the Blakemores vacationed to Sterling, VA, and experienced their first accessible playground.

What would most parents do after that experience? Move closer, visit frequently, think, “Wow, I wish all playgrounds were like this?”

For Natalie Blakemore, there was one other option. She built Zachary his own accessible playground.

Teaming up with her husband, Todd, and Zach’s speech therapist, Karena Romstadt-Eoff, Natalie founded Unlimited Play and raised more than $750,000. Zachary’s Playground is minutes from the Blakemore’s home.

Unlimited Play was officially founded in May, 2003. Four years of sacrifice followed.

“Natalie talked with parents, therapists, researched online, worked with vendors on design, spoke at different events, and sacrificed countless amounts of time,” her husband, Todd, her sounding board and main support system, said. “She would come to bed a lot of times at three in the morning.”

“At times I felt like I was banging my head on a brick wall,” Natalie said. “It felt like opening day would never come.”

But it did. April 21, 2007, was the day—the day that Natalie and Todd would finally get to dedicate Zachary’s Playground to their inspiration, Zachary.

Accessible, The Way To Go

“In all honesty, I have been a director for 38 years in numerous cities and counties across the United States and have had hundreds of playgrounds under my responsibilities and I have never observed a playground system being utilized as much as Zachary’s,” Tim Vanatta, director of parks and recreation for Lake Saint Louis, MO, said. “I realize these systems are more expensive than the normal type, but I truly believe they are worth it and add a great value and quality of life to the citizens and the city.”

Mayor Mike Potter of Lake Saint Louis said, “I have received a large amount of favorable comments [about Zachary’s Playground]. More importantly, I have not received any unfavorable comments, which is unusual in the business I’m in.”

Even young children realize the importance of playground accessibility. Brianna, the Blakemore’s eight-year-old daughter, said, “I think of my parents a lot when I go to the playground. I feel happy inside and grateful for them. I know if they wouldn’t have done it, I wouldn’t be there playing with Zach.”

While it is amazing that a mother founded a nonprofit and raised the funds to build an accessible playground, it shouldn’t have come to that. Communities should provide playgrounds like Zachary’s throughout the United States for all children.