A grand opening celebration is planned for this month to mark the completion of a new playground at Kiwanis Park in St. Joseph.

The new Kaleidoscope Playground is the first all-abilities playground in the city. Among the project’s organizers was Michelle Binkley, who tells us she went around the city to ask what local playground might be a good candidate for something like it.

“We wanted to make sure that it was a playground that was an all-abilities playground so that children that had any types of disabilities could play right alongside with all the other children that come to the playground to play,” Binkley said.

Binkley says a fundraising campaign then began, all supported by donations and not tax dollars. Initially, it was supported by Judy Felland and several other community partners.

“And then it just kind of snowballed by word of mouth, mostly. We had a lot of community members, and the Berrien Community Foundation played a big part in it because they have donors that like to give to certain areas that they are interested in.”

The new Kaleidoscope Playground project eventually raised $1.3 million.

Binkley says the new playground includes a two-bay accessible zip-line, a ramped main play structure with 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 Grand Opening Celebration of Kaleidoscope Playground will be held on June 30 from 4 to 6 p.m. The entire community is invited to come and see the new play space.