SHANE'S INSPIRATION

By Michael N. Feuer

Shane's Inspiration, California's first "boundless playground," opens in Griffith Park today. It is the first playground in the western United States designed so that children of all physical abilities, including kids using wheelchairs and walkers, can play together.

Constructing this remarkable place, however, must be just the first step in assuring that kids with disabilities no longer are relegated to the sidelines in our parks and playgrounds.

Most of us take the facilities and play equipment at our neighborhood parks for granted. If we give any thought to access, we assume that the Americans with Disabilities Act requires playgrounds to be usable by kids with disabilities. Sadly, it does not.

Playgrounds throughout Los Angeles and the nation may literally be accessible to disabled people, but that turns out not to mean very much. Many kids, for example, can maneuver their wheelchairs or walkers down to the edge of playgrounds, but they can't get to the equipment without help or even go onto the sand without getting stuck. If they do reach the equipment, far too many can't play on it independently.

Klash Virgen, a young boy in a wheelchair bravely testifying before the City Council, explained how these limits affect thousands of children in Los Angeles. For him, Klash said, playing outside meant rolling his wheelchair to the porch and watching the other kids play.

Shane's Inspiration is the realization of a dream that emerged from tragedy. Shane Alexander Williams, the son of Scott and Catherine Curry Williams, was born in 1997 with spinal muscular atrophy, a genetic disorder that would have left him severely disabled had he survived. Within weeks of his birth, however, Shane died.

Imagining the life that their son would have led, the Williamses soon recognized that there was no public playground in Los Angeles where Shane could have played. Giving his brief life special meaning, and their own lives added purpose, they have devoted themselves since to creating a playground where disabled and able-bodied kids could play together.

The city of Los Angeles became a partner with the Williamses and their many supporters, allocating two acres in the heart of Griffith Park, helping to prepare the playground and contributing to the purchase of the unique equipment that makes the place so extraordinary.

At Shane's Inspiration, wheelchair-friendly ramps and bridges lead to platforms with steering wheels and other features that spark the imagination. Basketball hoops are lowered, sandboxes raised. Swings are designed so that kids with limited mobility can propel themselves. Shane's Inspiration will give many youngsters their first chance to experience fully some of childhood's most basic joys.

Most important, Shane's Inspiration is designed to appeal to all kids, not only those with disabilities. The playground provides a singular opportunity for children of all abilities to learn and play with one another. Many kids in wheelchairs have told us that what they want most is to play with their able-bodied peers. And kids without disabilities will benefit just as much as they erase their false preconceptions (and those of their parents) about what it really means to be a disabled person.

As the first major city in the United States with a boundless playground, Los Angeles could play a central role in the emerging national movement to create truly accessible parks. But to do so, we must deepen our commitment to children with disabilities by building on the model of Shane's Inspiration.

The need is clear. Nationwide, there are 3 million children under 15 with disabilities, most of whom have been deprived of the opportunity to play with able-bodied friends in neighborhood playgrounds. There are an estimated 8,000 disabled children within easy driving distance of Griffith Park alone.

A second boundless playground at the Hansen Dam in the northeast San Fernando Valley is in the works, and a motion I introduced Tuesday would make all city playgrounds boundless. Every child in every neighborhood throughout the city should have access to the kind of opportunity offered by Shane's Inspiration.

Since the ADA became law 10 years ago, opportunities for access and independence have opened up throughout society. Yet as we make the world more inclusive, it's natural that our concept of equality should grow. It's clear now that our commitment to children with disabilities fell short of the mark. Shane's Inspiration shows us how to begin making good on an old promise.

- - - Mike Feuer Represents Westwood, Century City, Studio City and Sherman Oaks onthe Los Angeles City Council. he Is a Candidate for City Attorney