Special needs playground opens in Delran

Here’s a story that will make you feel good: A playground built for children who might not be able to enjoy typical playgrounds has opened in Burlington County. Jake’s Place is designed to be accommodating to children in wheelchairs, blind children, children with autism and more.

According to the Burlington County Times, the playground features play equipment with braille, cool down areas and a sensory garden for kids with autism, wide ramps and a synthetic surface for wheelchairs and swings with harnesses. The first Jake’s Place opened in Cherry Hill in 2011. The playgrounds are named in honor of Jacob Myles Cummings-Nasto who died at 2 years old from a rare heart condition, a condition that prevented him from using typical playgrounds.

The Delran facility cost about $600,000, with funds coming from a grant by the Burlington County Freeholders, Fox and Roach Realtors, the Widener Foundation, and donations from community members and fund raising events. About 300 volunteers assembled the equipment. There is a red barn for kids to run through and a play tractor that are a nod to South Jersey’s agricultural heritage and a replica of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. If you want to take your special needs child to the playground, it is located in the Delran Community Park on Hartford Road.

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