by Hunter Dawkins
With the ribbon cutting of the new War Memorial Inclusion Park in Long Beach, city officials came out to celebrate a play area designated for children and adults with special needs in the shade across from the Methodist Church. The city put in expression swings for all parents with infants and toddlers to interact together.
“The city can’t do it on their own and our House of Representatives legislator Richard Bennett secured funding for this,” said Long Beach Mayor George Bass. “This is a big part of Long Beach and for the rest of the citizens to come out and enjoy this facility.”
The Expression Swing is playground equipment that promote intergenerational play as children and adults swing together that promote face-to-face recreation.
Four additional pieces of equipment installed by the Long Beach Parks & Recreation department were the wheelchair swing platform that provides access for people with all abilities, the jennswing which is a full body swing for special needs children up to 125 pounds, the adaptive swing seat with a perfect way to bring more inclusion through its harness, and rubber tiles for providing an attractive playground safety surface.
The whole War Memorial Park playground in Long Beach was built in 1942 and remains a great place for shade throughout the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
