Now open for the whole community to enjoy is the Kaleidoscope Playground at Kiwanis Park in St. Joseph.

A huge crowd came out for the playground’s grand opening Monday after a team of volunteers spent months collecting donations from a broad range of community supporters to make it all possible. Michelle Binkley is among the organizers and tells us it took more than $1.3 million to create this play space that’s accessible to kids of all abilities. She was thrilled to see the big community response.

“This is incredible and the community support that came out today is way beyond what we imagined we would have,” Binkley said.

Nikki Stusick worked with Binkley and told us they wanted a play space that would be universally designed to benefit the health and well-being of everyone, regardless of ability or age.

“I think this is absolutely incredible,” Stusick siad. “It’s so amazing to see kids come in wheelchairs and gate trainers, and we love seeing all the kids that came out and families.”

Stusick said the project has been well-embraced by the coalition of donors, which included Judy Felland, John and Dede Howard, the Whirlpool Foundation, the Frederick S. Upton Foundation, the Berrien Community Foundation, Kiwanis Club International, the Walsh Family, the Tim Foley “Breadman” Memorial, and many more. She said a lot of love went into this new playground.

The playground features a two-bay accessible zip-line, a kaleidoscopic tunnel, a modern merry-go-round and adaptive swing with spaces for wheelchairs, a designated toddler play space, and a musical instruments center.

The playground sure was a hit among the many kids present at Monday’s celebration.