Local mom Elisabeth Olsen is fighting to build an accessible playground at Harpeth Knoll Park in Bellevue. Metro Parks has agreed to renovations at Harpeth Knoll, but only if Elisabeth can raise $5 million. I spoke with her to learn more about the kind of playground she envisions, and why Nashville needs an inclusive playground.
What is an accessible playground?
It’s a playground where the design is intentional to create a shared play experience for children of all abilities. It extends the experience from being able to access the playground to being able to fully participate in and enjoy the friendship, imagination, and joy that comes from being able to play without any barriers.
Why is it important to you that there’s an accessible playground in Nashville?
I realized the importance of inclusive playgrounds when our youngest daughter got her first wheelchair at 18 months old. Over the next few years, we were able to go to a few different inclusive playgrounds when we visited family in Utah and friends who live in other cities around Nashville. It was incredible to see her be able to be wherever her sister and friends were. She is 7 years old now and in the past couple of years has started to be able to tell us how she feels alone when she is not able to play with her friends at the playground.
Our love for our daughter and our desire for all children to be able to play together is the reason that we started the Inclusive Playground at Harpeth Knoll Park project here in Bellevue.
How has the process of working with Metro Parks to build this playground gone, and what are the next steps?
Over the past year and a half, we have collaborated with Metro Parks, local government leaders, and project partners to secure a location and develop designs. We have worked closely with Joe Stovall, director of planning and development at Metro Parks, Hodgson Douglas Landscape Architects, and Landscape Structures Inc. to create a plan for the overall park renovations and playground design. This summer, with those designs created, we were able to get approval from Metro Parks to fundraise for the project.
The next step is to focus on reaching our $5 million fundraising goal. We envision achieving this through a combination of donations from community members, local businesses, major corporations, and various grants. We currently have a two-year fundraising timeline approved, but are hopeful that we will meet our goal much sooner than that.
If you’d like to contribute to the inclusive playground effort, Elisabeth is accepting donations through her Venmo, @elisabeth-olsen.
