Palmer Park

About

CAMDEN Playground was the largest & most accessible playground in the world, when it was built with 1.3 million visitors from 1993-2013. FREE AND OPEN TO ALL, WITH AND WITHOUT SPECIAL NEEDS, NO ADMISSION.

Story

OPEN FROM: 5:00 am-11pm
NO ADMISSION, FREE

Prior to the building of CAMDEN Playground, the most accessible playground was only 40%, but CAMDEN Foundation raised that to 100% accessible. Not only that, but it broke other barriers also. CAMDEN Playground brought people with special needs out of the darkness, it helped people realize that just because you have a special need, there is nothing to fear. That people with special needs are just like you and I. That is where prejudice stems from, the fear of the unknown, and CAMDEN Playground eliminated that by allowing those with and without special needs to play together in a place which is natural for children. Once they are in this environment they don't notice the differences, they only find they are having fun and everything else vanishes.

To move on to the future without that prejudice that once existed, the children grow into adults and that hatred that once was there has gone. And that is what CAMDEN Playground has done, and is doing all around the world with the playgrounds which have been modeled after it. It has broken down the barriers and set so many free. It has allowed adults with special needs the opportunity to go out and enjoy a day at the park with their own children when before they couldn't. It had allowed senior citizens a chance to get out of nursing homes and go to a place where they can just get away from being cooped up in a room all day, and it gives everyone a chance to know one another without being ridiculed. And isn't that something that makes life worth living?

This is a playground known worldwide, with CAMDEN being the model for playgrounds from as far away as Holland and India, to Canada, as well as throughout the United States. It has been the model for playgrounds worldwide, and continues to be the most popular place to go in the summertime for area residents. Many schools take field trips to the playground and visitors traveling through stop for a glimpse of the large castle which rises over the structure, with a dragon emerging from the wall, a moat, and life sized alligator and sea turtle.

CURRENTLY, the playground is in need of funding for a rebuild; after 21+ years the wood is beginning to deteriorate, and in order to keep the playground around for generations to come, we need to update this special play place.

A tentative budget of $360,000 is given, not including the tear down of the old playground and groundwork. The sooner we raise the money, the sooner the "dream" can become reality again.