Field of dreams: Ball's new playground equipped for special-needs, autistic kids

The town of Ball's inclusive playground, funded mostly through a grant, will be dedicated and opened Saturday.

"It is absolutely gorgeous," Mayor Gail Wilking said Thursday. "The kids are so excited. They’re stopping at the fence, looking. The excitement is unbelievable in our town."

The dedication, complete with a ribbon cutting with the Central Louisiana Regional Chamber of Commerce, begins at noon. At 1 p.m., Wilking, council members and Ball Police Department Chief Marshall Deen will be sworn in for their new terms. A reception is set from 2-4 p.m.

In August, the town announced it had been awarded a $120,000 grant through the Lowe's Hometown Initiative to build the playground that includes equipment for special-needs and autistic children. The council initially approved an additional $30,000 for the project, but later approved $10,000 more for better turf.

The grant application was a surprise to Wilking. Her son manages a San Antonio Lowe's, and he was the one who nominated the town.

When she found out the town was in the running for the grant, she couldn't tell anyone about it. That wasn't easy, she said.

Once the award was official, response from residents was overwhelmingly positive, said Wilking. The Ball playground joins at least two other inclusive playgrounds in Central Louisiana − the Coughlin Saunders Inclusive Playground in Alexandria and one in Pollock that opened July 29.

The city of Pineville is in the process of getting inclusive playground equipment for Kees Park, but it doesn't yet have a delivery date, said Mayor Rich Dupree.

Lowe's set a deadline for the project to be finished, the end of November, and the town met that, Wilking said. She said Lowe's has been "absolutely the best" throughout the process.

Central Louisiana inclusive playgrounds:Kids with special needs have a new playground in Pollock. Another is coming to Ball.

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The playground is wheelchair accessible and includes items that make music. She said the turf feels "like walking on foam. It's a dream. God has blessed us beyond words."

She also credited Pan American Engineers and Tom David, the town's engineer, for waiving their fee so all the grant money could go toward the playground.

Wilking has said she always wanted to address the town's existing playground, a small fenced-in area with outdated equipment next to the police department that's separated from a walking trail and green space by a road. She feared children crossing the road could be hit by cars.

And she said the council members supported the new playground for the same reasons.

"They had set their minds on getting this done for kids," she said.

Wilking said room remains to add equipment to the playground, should the council fund it or donations be made to the town.

For now, the mayor said she's excited for Saturday "so those kids can run in that gate and have at it."

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Ball's playground with equipment for special-needs, autistic kids, opens