From Mike Dunn, public information officer for the City of Temple Terrace:

Riverhills Park will become even more fun soon, thanks to a slate of new “all-inclusive” (all children with all abilities) playground equipment approved by the Temple Terrace City Council.

The playground will feature special swing seats, ADA compliant ground-level features, musical instruments, a poured-in-place safety surface and other amenities that can be enjoyed by all children.

Similar playgrounds have been installed at Riverside Park and Lightfoot Playground.

The inspiration for the project came from Clouds of Hope, an organization started in 2008 by Temple Terrace residents Wally and Renee Blain. Their daughter, Allie, has idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, an immune disorder that affects her blood-clotting ability.

Typical playgrounds, which have sharp-edged equipment and hard surfaces on which Allie could injure herself, are off-limits to her. But “all-inclusive” playgrounds can be enjoyed by anyone.

“This will be the third and largest all-inclusive playground in the city,” noted Leisure Services Director James Chambers. “In the future, we feel it’s important that every playground is designed for all children of all abilities.”

The project is a wonderful example of a public partnership, noted City Councilman Ron Govin.

Temple Terrace, Hillsborough County, the Hillsborough County School District and the non-profit Clouds of Hope teamed up to fund the $160,000 project.

Chambers said workers will begin preparing the Riverhills Park site in January and installing the new playground equipment soon after that. They said they expect the playground to be finished and ready for fun at the end of March.

For more information about Clouds of Hope, e-mail cloudsofhope@verizon.net.