Prairie Village resident pushes city to better integrate accessible play equipment into neighborhood parks

The Prairie Village governing body this week denied a resident’s appeal of the city’s decision to invest heavily in accessible playground equipment at Franklin and Harmon Parks, a move he said denied kids with disabilities the chance to be incorporated in play at other neighborhood parks.

James Olenick, the father of a now-adult son with disabilities, challenged the public works department’s planned investment of nearly $120,000 in new play equipment at Franklin Park in the coming months. The city also has tentative plans to invest around $575,000 in a complete revamp of the playground at Harmon Park that would feature a large amount of play equipment accessible to kids with disabilities, though that new inclusive play area has yet to be designed. While Olenick conceded that the equipment the city had planned for Franklin Park met the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, he said that the concentration of accessible equipment in a couple of parks put families who didn’t live near those parks at a disadvantage.