Auburn kids now have a new place to play.

This past Friday the City officially opened Discovery Playground, a 32,000-square-foot barrier-free playground, at Les Gove Park.

The playground, which broke ground just a couple of months ago, features universally-accessible pathways and surfacing, play structures configured to support all levels of development, ramps, bridges and transfer stations – allowing every child to reach the highest play deck, elevated sand tables, interactive walls, activity panels, and auditory elements.

According to Auburn City Councilwoman Lynn Norman, the park is a welcome addition to the City’s recreational facilities.

“It’s really a sad thing when you bring a kid to a playground and there is nothing they can use,” Norman said. “And for a lot of kids, that’s always the case. There is just no equipment. But things like this merry-go-round, you can put a wheelchair in the center. It’s flush to the ground, so it has access. Kids can run and jump on and not get hurt because it is flush. Just little details like that.”

City officials broke ground April 5, and construction proceeded rapidly with funding from various private and public sources, including a $70,000 grant from the King County Youth Sports Facility. In addition, the Rotary Club of Auburn and the City’s Employee Recycling Program both donated $10,000 to the playground fund.

The City also received a $5,000 Muckleshoot Charity Grant and a $3,169 donation from the City of Auburn Employees. The Auburn Noon Lions Club donated $2,500, the Auburn Youth Council pledged $2,600, and the Soroptimist International of Auburn gave $1,600. The City also received more than $2,000 in donations from individuals, as well as $1,439.37 from Auburn School District students and a $1,000 donation from the Detlef Schrempf Foundation.

“It’s one thing to have a dream, but to see the way it’s been embraced,” Norman said. “Everybody shared the same dream and the same goal. And to have it happen so rapidly, it’s just been amazing. We had confidence that we could do it, but not that we could do it this fast.”

After a brief ceremony and ribbon cutting on Friday, Auburn kids got their chance to try out the new playground – which features such innovative elements as a flush merry-go-round, a teeter-totter and a tandem swing that allows one person on one swing to drive the movement of the other swing.

“A lot of it’s simple enough stuff that we really should consider it in every playground we do,” Norman said. “You don’t have to look very long or hard to realize that there are a lot of kids that have a rough time in life, and they deserve a playground as much or more than any other kid. One of the goals of the committee was really to support the kids that might not be the same as you are, that might not have the same abilities.

“All you have to do is look around to see how the kids love and are going to use this playground,” she said. “That’s the reward, to see those first kids coming down the slide and playing on the climbing rope. I think that families in general are going to love this place.”