After years of planning and fund-raising, a new playground has opened in Davenport's Vander Veer Park.
Chad Dyson, Parks and Recreation Director, says it's called Gabe's Play Village, and named for Gabe Cypret, a young man who uses a wheelchair. The playground is designed to be "all-inclusive."
"Essentially what it does is it allows for children with disabilities to access the majority if not all of the play features. For example, a child or an adult in a wheelchair can access the actual steps and utilize the slide."
The leader of effort to open the new playground is his grandmother, Gloria Cypret. She and some friends raised 600,000 dollars in donations and grants to build it.
The playground also has a rubber surface for people with mobility difficulties.
Dyson says the old playground in Vander Veer Park was more than 20 years old and due to be replaced anyway.
