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Telephone Pioneers of America Park, a park built for people with disabilities
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Parents of disabled children have an exceptional recreational resource and yet few seem to know about it. Telephone Pioneers of America Park is a facility designed from the ground up for full accessibility. It was the first barrier-free park in the country.
Every aspect of Telephone Pioneer Park including the playground and sports courts is fully accessible to anyone with physical disabilities. The park, located at 1946 W Morningside Drive near W Union Hills Drive and N 19th Avenue, hosts a number of events for the special needs communities including Special Olympics. The Adaptive Recreation Program offers local activities such as adaptive swimming instruction.
The land the park uses was donated by the City of Phoenix and construction was funded by community donations under a fundraising effort spearheaded by the Pioneers, a national volunteer network of current and retired telecommunications employees.
Facilities include two baseball fields where traditional or beep baseball games are played, wheelchair-accessible courts for basketball, tennis and other sports, and swings for wheelchairs. The park has ramadas, grills and picnic facilities for large gatherings.
The therapeutic swimming pool is heated and fully accessible, including a lift and a ramp down into the water. It will open for Memorial Day weekend, May 25-23, and then will start the full 2009 summer season along with other Phoenix public pools on May 30. It will be open every day except Fridays through the final day of the season, July 26. Admission is standard for Phoenix public pools: $3 for adults and $1 for swimmers age 50 and over or 17 and under.
We've used the pool for the last two years and our experience has been exceptional. There is a high ratio of staff and lifeguards to swimmers. The accessibility is the best I've seen anywhere and the layout of the entire area seems designed with disabled people in mind. The pool is never crowded, probably because so few people seem to know about it. The only bad thing I can say about the pool is I am disappointed it is open such a short time every year.
The rest of the park is open from 6 am to 10 pm every day, year round. For more information on the park call (602) 262-4543 (voice) or (602) 534 2491 (TTY).
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