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All Play—After a Lot of Work—Clemyjontri Park, Fairfax County VA

By Joan Leotta

The sound of laughter and overflowing parking lots attest to the success of Clemyjontri Park, in McLean, in Fairfax County, VA. Bloggers are giving the park a “Five star rating, saying that it is ‘way fun”,” notes Grace E. Fielder, RLA, the park's designer. The innovative park, the first in the country of such size designed specifically for children with disabilities was the vision of Mrs. Adele Lebowitz.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Mrs. Lebowitz offered to turn over to Fairfax County Park Authority, a 18 acre parcel of prime real estate west of Georgetown Pike, land valued at somewhere between $20 to $30 million dollars. Her one restriction on the gift was that the land be used for something priceless—a park for children with disabilities. On October 9, 2006, her vision became a reality and Clemyjontri, the first large scale park that is devoted to the needs of children with disabilities, opened. Just days after opening, the overflow parking lots were themselves overflowing during its entire 7AM to dusk open hours.

What's in the Park

Children with disabilities are often hampered from taking full advantage of play in outdoor park settings by the many barriers presented by the environment, play equipment or both. Over the past years, thanks to the Americans with Disabilities Act, many parks have added one or two pieces of equipment, walk areas and some even more that can be enjoyed by children with a variety of disabilities from sight to mobility. But Clemyjontri, its name derived from the names of the four Lebowitz children, (Carolyn, Emily, John and Patrina) is more than an effort to provide some accommodation for children with disabilities. This park was planned and built with the needs of these children put first!

From dream to reality

While the park's name may sound like it comes from Lewis Carroll's Jabberwocky, whimsy, sound and deep thought about how children learn and play, backed by careful planning are the hallmarks of the park's development. Funding for the playground and facilities such as parking and landscaping came from the Park Authority, the nonprofit Fairfax County Park Foundation, a group called Friends of Clemyjontri Park (set up to help build the park) and other public and private donations.

Bob Brennan, Executive Director of the Fairfax County Park Foundation, (the fund-raising arm of the county Park Authority) says, “Instead of going to groups of people representing those with disabilities we went directly to children through various programs in Fairfax County schools, doing focus groups with children in elementary schools. Children dream big about what they want.” Guided by those big dreams, the Park Authority then contacted Grace Fielder of G. E. Fielder & Associates, (www.gefielder.com) located in nearby Columbia, MD. Fielder is a certified landscape architect with other recent experience in developing a park for children with disabilities. Just a few years earlier she had designed and oversaw construction for Hadley's Playground at Falls Road Local Park in Potomac, Maryland. “It was the first of its kind in 1998 and1999 and was much heralded,” says Fielder who has also written a book that includes standards for playground and recreation area design for children in parks.

“Fairfax County contacted us first about the General Management Plan for the park encompassing the entire 18-acre site. The next phase focused on the eight acres that have been developed to date. In the playground planning process we really focused on creating opportunities that would make learning exciting in the playground. We want disabilities and abilities to become a blur once a child was on park grounds or equipment. We wanted their experience in the park to be a matter of what one CAN do.”

Fielder continues, “It's not just a job for me. My own nephew is a quadriplegic. It is important that we see our sameness rather than differences when we look at other people.”

Learning through Play

Child care experts often say that play is the “work” of a child—teaching skills, both practical and interpersonal, needed in later life. Fielder's work extends that concept magnificently. Of the eight acres in use at present, including parking and a picnic area, two acres are full of various types of play equipment. Throughout the park, there are opportunities to use fun equipment and enjoy the outdoors no matter the disability of the child. Swings designed with high backs and arm rests, a wheelchair drag race strip, overall surfacing for rolling ability of chairs, lowered monkey bars, and a specially designed Carousel are all a part of the fun.

Fielder calls attention to the “Rainbow Room”, the outdoor space devoted to the many sizes and shapes of swings at Clemyjontri: “Swing is a motion and a piece of equipment that offers a repetitive learning experience.” She combined that with color by putting colors in the surface material (and the names of the colors are also there in Braille) and then by also using those colors on the swings—a red swing is in the red area, blue in the blue area and so on. The children pass under arches in the colors of the rainbow to enter the “Rainbow Room.” “The “Schoolhouse” area continues that learning with a color wheel showing the primary and secondary colors. This area includes learning about shapes, the fifty states and more.

There is a maze as well. But the design is fluid—it can be changed by moving panels around. The key to the maze (in various shapes) can be traced by touch on one of the maps in the area. Since the maze has multiple solutions, each trip to the park provides fresh stimulation for the visitor. Equipment to aid balance and build upper arm strength also fill the park.

The Carousel—was a specific request from Mrs. Lebowitz,” says Fielder. “We went with a classic horse and chariot design,” says Brennan, “with a twist.” The carousel is accessible. You can roll a wheelchair onto the platform and ride in your chair. “Some horses go up and others do not. Of those that do not, many are low enough for easy transfer from a chair to the seat of the horse.” With its chariots and low mount horses and horses for the children, it provides a central meeting place in the park. That the park filled a need not previously met is evident in the comments of parents and in the tremendous use of the park by the area residents since it opened.

The Washington Post (Oct. 10, 2006) the day after the park opened, quotes a mom, Ms. Adrianne Pedlikin of Vienna VA, watching her Down syndrome son enjoy the swings with high backs and supportive handle bars: “ You want your kid to do as many normal things as possible.” She added that taking them to a regular park sets them up for failure since they cannot use most of the equipment. Brennan observes that some think that the park is too successful since from early morning the parking lots are filled to overflowing with parents and children.

“The entire design of the park is tied together by the intra-park roadway system that is tricycle and wheelchair friendly. Its imaginatively design really gets all kids into the outdoors expending energy. There is even a wheelchair drag strip,” says Fielder.

”Operation will shake things out—we will see how certain types of equipment react in our weather, with use and learn what the community might want. But even before the rest of the 18 acre parcel is used, the County hopes to apply some its experience to creating smaller scale ventures in other areas,” says Brennan.

Getting the Word Out

The park has received wonderful news coverage. The county finds that the park is being well used already and that all groups in the area seem to know about it already.

The park is featured on the County's website and Brennan says even the Voice of America has even done a piece on it, giving the effort international coverage. The park has had many words of praise given it, but the highest praise of all for this exceptionally creative use of land comes in the laughter of the children—with abilities and disabilities—who use it every day.

Edited by Mary-Louise Piner.

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