Advocates laud 'long overdue' effort to boost Frick Park access for disabled people

Meredith Peterson looks at parks differently from most.

As executive director of the Down Syndrome Association of Pittsburgh and the mother of a 16-year-old daughter with Down Syndrome, she knows that many people outside the disability community don’t realize how inaccessible parks can be to some.

Something as simple as a picnic table with connected benches cemented to the ground may look innocuous, she said, but someone in a wheelchair might have a hard time finding a seat.

That’s why Petersen was happy to be on hand Thursday for the groundbreaking in Pittsburgh’s Frick Park of a sensory-friendly, accessible outdoor classroom and trail that aims to make green space more inclusive for everyone.

“When it’s accessible to everyone, everyone wins,” Peterson said.

Members of her association – along with other disability advocates and families – provided input on the space’s design.

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s plan for the outdoor classroom and trail includes an accessible walking trail, flexible places for people to play or socialize and areas that can be used as educational spaces.

The project will include an accessible public bathroom with an adult changing table and an enhanced lending library where people can rent assistive technology and all-terrain wheelchairs, said Catherine Qureshi, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.

“Too often traditional park spaces overlook the needs of those with disabilities,” Qureshi said, touting the conservancy’s efforts to design new covered shelter areas, a revamped observation deck and an accessible trail that will span nearly a third of a mile near the Frick Environmental Center.

The city has designated $200,000 from its parks tax trust fund to support the project, which also is leveraging private dollars.

The outdoor area includes benches with etchings of animals and leaves, wheelchair-accessible tables, sensory activities that will be reachable from a wheelchair and other amenities.

Leah Northrop said her son, Wyatt, who died six months ago at age 15, spent much of his life in hospitals struggling with health issues.

She cherishes the happy memories her family made with him in Frick Park, where Wyatt would enjoy the sight of sunshine on leaves, the sound of birds singing and the feel of the wind in his face while he used his off-road wheelchair during family walks.

“Very quickly, we learned that Wyatt loved the bumps of a gravel trail on his wheelchair,” Northrop said.

The most important part of the time they spent enjoying nature, she said, was that the family could do it together, despite differences in physical abilities.

Having more truly accessible spaces, advocates and local officials said during the groundbreaking, will ensure everyone can have equal access to those experiences.

The conservancy anticipates the project will be completed by late fall. Some trail routes will be detoured this summer during construction.

Aimee Tenerovich, a Pittsburgh Public Schools teacher who works with students with autism and intellectual disabilities throughout the district, said she sometimes sees students with special needs being left out during field trips and experiences that should be fun for everyone.

Tenerovich said she and other teachers are excited to have a space where students who have faced those struggles can enjoy nature, interact with their peers and explore.

“They get to feel that they belong,” she said.

Accessibility in parks, Mayor Ed Gainey said, is “long overdue.”

Gainey said he finds peace and serenity in greenspaces — and he wants all city residents to have the same opportunities. Projects like this, he said, ensure “everybody feels included, everybody feels special.”

City Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, said the disability community often faces a “battle” to receive even basic accommodations so they can simply access a space.

“This is more than just accommodation,” she said of the sensory outdoor classroom and trail. “This is creating a space that is intended to make our parks accessible in a way I don’t know I’ve ever seen before.”