Rowan County Parks and Recreation Division

SALISBURY — The Rowan County Parks and Recreation Division has won a state grant  to make the Ellis Park playground accessible to children with disabilities.

The Parks and Recreation Trust Fund is a state-funded grant program for land acquisition and development of parks. The fund is the primary source of money to build and renovate facilities in state parks as well as to buy land for new and existing parks.

The program provides dollar-for-dollar grants to local governments.

The North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation administers the program.

The Connect NC Bond package, approved in March 2016, included one-time funding of $3 million for parks and recreation grants to benefit children and veterans with disabilities.

Local governments, including some public authorities, are eligible to apply for the matching grants.

The matching grants can be used to build special facilities or adapt existing facilities that meet the needs of children and veterans with physical or developmental disabilities. Local governments can request a maximum of $500,000 with each application and must match the grant with at least $1 of local funds for every $4 in grant funds.

The Rowan County Parks and Recreation Division applied for the grant with the assistance of former grant writer Kellie Cartwright.

The recommendation was to use the money to enhance the playground at Ellis Park to make it more inclusive so children with or without disabilities, as well as family members, could play and interact together.

Improvements would include accessible swings, ground-level play components and rubber play-safe surfacing.

According to 2014 data, Rowan County has about 12 to 15 children with disabilities per 1,000 residents.

Out of the five county parks, Ellis Park was selected for the following reasons:

• The current playground unit there is more than 23 years old.

• It has ramp access but nothing else to encourage inclusive play.

• The parts for the unit are no longer available, and the swings are outdated.

• The ground is covered in mulch, which makes access difficult for children using wheelchairs and other assistive devices.

• The Therapeutic Recreation program operates out of Ellis Park.

The N.C. Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Authority considered 45 grant applications requesting nearly $9.5 million. Rowan County was one of 18 chosen to receive the funding.

Rowan County received $264,959 for the Ellis Park Accessible Playground Renovation Project with matching county funds of $66,240, totaling $331,199.

The old play equipment has been removed and the playground area is closed for renovation.

New play equipment will be installed soon, including an accessible play fort, swings, slides, an orbit merry-go-round, a round team swing, buddy benches and more.