Orem mom prompts city to build wheelchair-accessible playground


5 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

OREM — Finding a playground for 7-year-old Presley Gleason is a struggle for her family. Presley has spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress, a condition that paralyzes her diaphragm and contributes to her low muscle tone.

While it binds Presley to a wheelchair, her mom, Mindy Gleason, believes the condition does not define her.

"Presley is the most confident little girl you will ever meet in your life. She is strutting her stuff in her chair," Mindy said.

The wheelchair does, however, restrict Presley from playing on normal park playgrounds.

"It's just really hard to see your daughter want to interact and play," Mindy said. "Other kids want to play with her too, but you know, they are just not able to play alongside each other."

Presley Gleason, 7, talks to KSL's Ashley Moser about her excitement for the new wheelchair accessible playground that will be built at Orem's City Center Park. (Photo: Brandon Whitworth, KSL-TV)
Presley Gleason, 7, talks to KSL's Ashley Moser about her excitement for the new wheelchair accessible playground that will be built at Orem's City Center Park. (Photo: Brandon Whitworth, KSL-TV)

Mindy recently approached Orem City officials about adding a park accessible to children of all levels and the All-Together Playground was born.

Steven Downs, assistant to the city manager of Orem, said the city is working to make the idea a reality by transforming the City Center Park on Orem's Center Street into the new accessible park.

"In order to be accessible to children specifically in wheelchairs, we can't use stairs, we have to use ramps, which requires a lot more space," Downs said.

The playground is designed to promote the healthy development of all children's physical, social, cognitive and sensory abilities. It will cost the city $1 million to build, Downs said, with equipment estimate close to $600,000 and the rest needed to make the bathrooms more accessible.

The city put $150,000 toward the project using the Orem CARE tax. Many local organizations have already pitched in with volunteers. The city hopes to start construction in September 2016.

The team heading the build is accepting donations* on its GoFundMe page.

---

*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

Photos

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

UtahFamily
Ashley Moser

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast