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Effort to bring inclusive playground to Southport, NC stalls

Efforts to make Southport more accessible and inclusive have caused division and concern.

Planning for what would have been the first inclusive, accessible playground in Brunswick County has been delayed after many residents raised concerns — not about the park’s concept, but about its proposed location.

“This is a relatively divisive issue that has brought city staff, this board and the community into conflict,” Southport Councilman Robert Carroll said at the board’s June 26 meeting. “And I think our community is bigger than that.”

The playground, dubbed “Taylor Field of Dreams,” would be fully inclusive and built in the city’s Taylor Field Park. Renderings of the playground show a maritime-themed space that nods to the city’s waterfront location and history. Taylor Field Park is located at 409 East Nash St. in Southport.

Southport Parks and Recreation Director Heather Hemphill told the board late last year that there are several families in the area with children and adults who are unable to access the usual playground equipment. A no-limit playground, she said, aims to remove barriers so that children and adults of all abilities can play.

Hemphill said the city began working with Unlimited Play, a Missouri nonprofit that helps municipalities design, plan and finance these playgrounds, in February 2023. Early plans for the playground showed a roller slide and a wheelchair-accessible merry-go-round with ramps throughout and ships, a treasure chest and pirates to tie in with the maritime theme.

The addition of the playground would be phase two of the development of the park, which was donated to the city in 2017. However, neighbors and residents have voiced their opinion that Taylor Field Park is not the best location for the playground, citing concerns about parking, traffic and loss of green space.

Carroll said that while he supports the playground and the Taylor Park location, he wanted to “take a step back,” regroup and have more conversations with city staff and the community about the project.

“… There’s too much negativity around it,” he said. “We can all vote today to say this is definitely something we want as a board — where it’s going to go, we don’t know.”

Carroll proposed that the board withdraw and terminate all grant applications and funding that identified Taylor Field Park as the site for the project, with the caveat that the city would continue to work toward building an inclusive playground.

Lowe Davis clarified that while concerns have been raised about the planned location, no members of the public have yet spoken out against the construction of an inclusive playground in or near the city.

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“The location is the issue,” Davis said. “And because there’s so much interest and desire, Taylor Field doesn’t seem like the best place, but we don’t know for sure.”

Carroll’s motion passed by a 5-1 vote, with Councilman Marc Spencer dissenting.

Jamey Cross covers Brunswick County for the StarNews. Reach her at [email protected] or message her on Twitter/X @jameybcross.