Charlestown Now Home to City's First Universally Accessible Playground

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino joined Liberty Mutual Insurance Chairman and CEO David H. Long for a ribbon cutting ceremony to unveil the City of Boston’s first universally accessible playground at the Charlestown Navy Yard. 

The project includes a new, 23,000 square foot boardwalk and 63 pieces of play equipment contained in a 15,000 square foot rubber playground area, complete with ADA accessible paths and gathering spaces.

“This playground has been very special to me. It will be the first in our city that is universally accessible to children and adults of all abilities,” Menino said. 

“This is Boston at its best – people coming together to improve the quality of life for the residents of our city.”

Liberty Mutual Insurance provided the cornerstone donation of $1 million for the creation and construction of the playground. Approximately 100 children, with and without disabilities, were on hand for the celebration.

The park also includes other site furnishings including benches, tables, trash receptacles, bike racks, fence/rail systems, signage and lighting, and connection to the Harborwalk liner path system. More than 400 granite blocks were used for construction, some sourced from the original seawall on site. Timbers used for seating were once intended for use for mast during Drydock 5’s shipbuilding era.

Also participating in the celebration were David Storto, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital President, Kristin McCosh, Commissioner for Boston’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Boston Parks Commissioner Toni Pollack, and children from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and the Harvard-Kent Elementary School.

“We applaud the leadership of Mayor Menino, David Long and all of the donors here today in creating this tremendous recreational resource for children of all physical abilities,” said David Storto, President of Spaulding. 

“The universally accessible playground is synergistic with the commitment Spaulding made in building its new hospital to serve as a model of inclusive design and we are extremely proud and pleased to be associated with it,” Storto said.