Middletown's new all-inclusive Can-Do Playground is for everybody

Noelle Mathew didn't know what piece of playground equipment she wanted to play on Wednesday morning.

The 3-year-old Middletown pre-schooler eventually chose all of the swings, slides, rope walls and even a mini obstacle course at the new $400,000 Can-Do Playground at Charles E. Price Memorial Park.

In the process, she and her mother Michelle scouted the new all-inclusive facility for her older brother, who couldn't come because he was in school.

Noelle and more than 100 other students were at the new playground as part of an outing with Green Acres Preschool Wednesday morning. Students, siblings, parents and even grandparents overtook the playgrounds, shelters and other open spaces. 

The day before, the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend Rotary Club celebrated the grand opening of Delaware's newest Can-Do Playground, located adjacent to the dog park near the back of Charles E. Price Park on Levels Road.

The playground is called a boundless or all-inclusive facility, meaning it has an area in which children of all abilities can interact together.

That is good news for the Mathew family.

"I have a special needs son, so we are very excited about this new Can-Do Playground," Michelle said. "It gives the community a sense of inclusion and that translates well for families who have children with disabilities."

The new playground has been four years in the making, according to Randy Schurbon of the MOT Rotary Club.

Schurbon said the club was meticulous in picking the right vendor and approving the right design. But more importantly, it raised $320,000 to add to the thousands of dollars of donations from eight other area Rotary clubs and businesses in the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend area.

The playground sits on land valued at $125,000 donated by the Town of Middletown. The town will maintain it.

Schurbon said members of the club's playground committee liked what they saw when they visited similar playgrounds in Milford and Wilmington.

"The Rotary ideals fit into what the playground is all about and it is worth every penny," he said. "This new playground is for everybody in the community to enjoy."

On Wednesday, plenty of children and parents seemed to agree.

"It's really a community park," said Lori Giughlo, who was there with her 4-year-old son Nathan. "It's all-inclusive and is fun for all kids. It's exactly what Middletown needed. We'll definitely be back ... a lot."