The Johnson County Park & Recreation District (JCPRD) is excited to announce the development of its first inclusive playgrounds. In the fall of 2017, JCPRD began planning for construction of one playground in Stilwell Community Park and another in Shawnee Mission Park (SMP).    

Inclusive playgrounds enable all children to play together without physical or social barriers. Inclusive playgrounds are new to the JCPRD system, but are not to the Kansas City metro area. Each playground will have a unique design and offer a new play experience that children, parents, and caregivers in Johnson County will enjoy again and again. The Stilwell Community Park inclusive playground opened September of 2018.  

The Ribbon Cutting for the Shawnee Mission Park playground will take place Saturday, July 6 at 10:30 a.m.

Steering Committee

JCPRD organized a Steering Committee made up of a wide range of Johnson County stakeholders. The group gathered in early August 2017 as part of a two-day, intensive design workshop lead by Vireo, a Kansas City based landscape architecture firm. The Steering Committee identified goals, key design elements, and features as they developed playground concepts.