CLEVELAND — Cleveland city leaders officially cut the ribbon on the new and improved Impett Park in Cleveland's 17th ward which was once labeled as "scary," and "dangerous.“
In 2018, News 5 received complaints from parents about the condition of the park.
Rust was prevalent all over the old metal equipment and sometimes, it was jagged.
“I used to call it a death trap," said Matt Luecke. "There were three or four things on it that were severely dangerous.”
Luecke takes his four-year-old daughter Meredith to parks all over the city and was blown away by Impett Park when they arrived Saturday afternoon.
“I think it's fantastic," said Luecke. "I think playgrounds are important pieces for culture and community, so I think it's really nice.”
Cleveland city leaders officially cut the ribbon on the new and improved park. It took three years of planning, re-imagining, and renovating to get the park open to the public.
According to 17th Ward City Councilman Charles Slife, it costs $1.4 million. Seven-hundred-fifty thousand dollars came from American Rescue Plan Act Funds. The rest of the funding came from the 17th ward's discretionary fund to help tear down and rebuild the park.
“And what's exciting about this park is that it was designed all by residents in the neighborhood, especially by kids in the neighborhood," said Slife. "So all the different play elements we have were hand-selected by people.”
The park is not only bigger, but it is now inclusive and fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Emily Parks' daughter often finds it hard to play with other kids at parks because she is in a wheelchair. Parks also says some of her daughter's friends are confined to their wheelchairs as well.
"She has friends that are not wheelchair users, too, but parks like this, playgrounds like this allow my daughter to play with peers of her age that are disabled and non-disabled," said Parks. "...and everybody's included, and everybody can play. And that is huge. We don't see that a lot, and we're seeing momentum in that change."
Even the bathroom at the park is ADA-compliant.
“So when we see a place that has accessible changing tables, it's a no-brainer," said Parks. "We're immediately going to go because that signifies, we designed this for you. We thought of you. We want you to be a part of this community. We want you to be in and visiting with us.”
