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School's playground delights the senses
Churchill Park opens facility

LOUISVILLE - Kendra Hall said she seldom takes her 18-year-old son Kyle to a playground.

Kyle has cerebral palsy and is wheelchair-bound. Usually, Hall can't push his wheelchair through the grass that surrounds many playgrounds, and if she can, there are no ramps to get Kyle up to the slides.

That all changed last week when Kyle's school, Churchill Park, opened a $307,000 sensory playground last week built for students with special needs.

It sits on a rubber-tiled surface -- no mulch -- and is equipped with ramps and has noise makers, bumpy slides and bright colors that play to several senses.

"This is the greatest thing this school could have done for these kids," Hall said shortly after going down a slide with Kyle, who clapped his hands and laughed. "He's absolutely loving this."

Churchill Park School, in south Louisville, is geared toward students with special needs. Most of its 96 students have a physical or mental disability.

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Students from the school played on the playground for the first time at the ceremony.

They banged on the large drums, spun gadgets that made rattling noises and went down bumpy slides. Wheelchair-bound students sat on the fun-glider, which rocked its riders.

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