The construction of an inclusive playground has been approved by the Walker County Board of Commissioners, the culmination of an effort started by a concerned mother in 2019.
A unanimous vote approved $406,500 for the first phase of Walker Rocks park, planned for the Walker County Civic Center in Rock Spring, Georgia. Contractors said the park could be built and operational in 90 days, according to Shannon Whitfield, chair of the commission.
“This is a playground that is all-inclusive, for children of all abilities,” Whitfield said at the meeting.
The project will be funded by the local sales tax and the county’s Tourism Product Development fund. The park was approved by voters in 2020, as is required for projects funded by the special purpose sales tax.
The purchase order was granted to Park & Play Structures, a Chattanooga-based company.
Hannah Funderburk is the mother who petitioned the County Commission for the all-access park. In a phone call, she said she’s very happy the park is being built.
“It’s wonderful,” Funderburk said. “It’s a huge win for the entire community. It’s a huge win for inclusion.”
Along with the park in Walker County, there are community efforts in Catoosa County and Carroll County to build inclusive parks, she said. The interest in inclusive parks has spread like wildfire, she said.
An inclusive park meets the needs of children with differing abilities, Funderburk said. She gave the example of a feature in the proposed park called the rock and wave.
Children in wheelchairs or any accessibility device can access the rock and wave via a ramp, she said, and rock it like a boat. She pointed out that the rock and wave isn’t exclusive to children in wheelchairs — all children can join in the fun.
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Funderburk said her son, Balian, learned to walk with a gait trainer on an inclusive playground in North Carolina. Since the campaign began, Balian has gone through three spine surgeries and a brain surgery. She said the family last week found out he is free of tumors on his spine, and the park was approved. 
Contributed Photo / This is a computer rendering of plans for phase 1 of the inclusive playground planned for Walker County.
“So this is just the best week I could imagine,” Funderburk said.
The inclusive park in North Carolina helped Balian socially as well as physically and opened her eyes to the need for those kinds of parks, Funderburk said. She takes her daughter, who is not disabled, to inclusive parks because it allows her to meet children of different abilities, Funderburk said.
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Voting to approve the park were Shannon Whitfield, board chair, Brian Hart, District 3 commissioner, and Robert Stultz, District 4 commissioner. As chair, Whitfield usually doesn’t vote but did this time because at least three votes are needed for proposals to be approved.
District 1 Commissioner Robert Blakemore did not attend the meeting because he is on vacation. Mark Askew, District 2 commissioner, recused himself because his wife works for PlayCore, a Chattanooga-based company that’s the parent company of Park & Play Structures.
Joe Legge, county spokesperson, said the park’s approval has been a lengthy process, started when Funderburk approached the commission in 2019. After a community effort to raise funds for the park, the park was approved by voters to be funded by the sales tax.
The county attempted to win grants to match the $350,000 in sales tax funds approved by the 2020 vote, but when that effort was unsuccessful, the county decided to build the park in two phases.
“We are thrilled to move this project from concept to creation and provide residents and visitors of all abilities with a high-quality play experience,” Legge said. “Phase 2, which will come at a later date, would expand the playground and include features that are missing, like swings and a zip line.”
Nathan Gibson, a resident of Flintstone, said he works with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. He said in a phone call that he’s been an advocate for the park throughout the process and has been a constant “gentle reminder” to keep the park’s construction a priority for the commission.
Gibson said he appreciates how county officials involved residents like him in the process. The park will be awesome, and he said he’s glad it’s finally going to be built.
“It shows that the county and county officials are taking an interest in the disabled community and the kids in the county as a whole,” Gibson said.
Legge said the county is applying for a grant to fund phase 2 of the park but won’t get an answer until 2024.
If the application is successful, the grant will require a 50% match. That match would come from community support, expected to be organized by Gibson, Legge said, and the county.
Contact Andrew Wilkins at awilkins@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659.
Contributed Photo / Photographed earlier this year in Cornelius, Oregon, 6-year-old Balian Funderburk learned to walk on an inclusive playground in North Carolina.