Santa Monica opens new playground that was designed with input provided by children

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Monday, September 24, 2018

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (KABC) -- Santa Monica has a new playground. The North Beach Playground is the city's third universally accessible park.

The space removes traditional barriers that may hold back children with physical, cognitive, vision or hearing disabilities. For example, there is additional space around structures for wheelchair access, and there are features for kids who learn through touch.

The new playground has different areas for 2 to 5-year olds and kids up to 12-years-old. Kids helped design the playground through an online survey on the type of equipment they wanted.

The result was a swing set with a large oval for group swinging. A regular swing and a yellow swing with back support and a seat belt for children with disabilities.

The North Beach Playground went through a 3-year-long revitalization process. The cost of the playground is $2 million.