Children playing on a playground might seem like an everyday occurrence, but for some children, just getting to a play structure can be a struggle due to lack of accessibility. Now, at Two Rivers Park in Pulaski County, children of all abilities have a 64,000-square-foot playground that Crafton Tull planned and engineered with all children in mind — no matter their ability or disability.

Since Two Rivers Park is located, as the name implies, near two rivers, the floodway and adjacent floodplain created a complex site to design. The Crafton Tull team provided evaluation of the floodplain and efficiently addressed the needs to build in the area, including substantial grading to raise the site from its original height, obtaining a FEMA No-Rise certificate, and utilizing additional drainage features along with poured-in-place, permeable rubber to prevent localized flooding.

The innovative use of a culvert for a tunnel and abundant artificial turf, makes Crafton Tull’s design of the Two Rivers Park Inclusive Playground a unique space, and one of Arkansas’ largest inclusive playgrounds. The thoughtful selection of state-of-the-art inclusive play structures, and fully incorporating ADA requirements throughout the site showcases how planning and engineering with inclusivity in mind can create a destination playground.