Clearfield's new all-abilities playground opens doors for all to play

CLEARFIELD — An all-abilities playground officially opened to the public at Fisher Park on Thursday, marking a day where every child of all abilities can enjoy the playground together.

The playground at 934 S. 1000 East was built with children of all abilities and sensory needs in mind, according to Clearfield City Mayor Mark Shepherd. The play area is filled with wheelchair accessible ramps, inclusive swings and play structures meant for children of different ages and different abilities.

"It is amazing to see something like this come to fruition," Shepherd told KSL.

The most important thing about the park is the fence around it, according to Shepherd.

"It is the only all-abilities park that is completely fenced in north of Salt Lake," Shepherd said. "It is so unique that you won't find anything like this anywhere in the state."

The park began as an idea after the city's community services department heard about Clearfield's Rosili Olsen, an 11-year-old girl who wanted her little sisters to be included on a playground in Clearfield. Rosili drew photos of her ideas for a park to help plan a new playground at Bicentennial Park in 2024.

Wanting to build more inclusive structures like the one Rosili dreamt up, Clearfield looked to the community garden at Fisher Park, which was mostly used by a disability group but otherwise wasn't used by the community.

To pay tribute to the old garden, Clearfield decided to repurpose the area into a garden-themed, all-abilities playground. Clearfield City Parks and Opens Space employee Bryce Bouwhuis, 38, brought his wife and four kids to the playground after cleaning the area out in preparation for its construction.

"We have a son with special needs, and he doesn't get to play at some of the playgrounds a lot because it's harder for him to get up there and balance and stuff," Bouwhuis said. "But this park makes him able to do that and run around with his family and his siblings, and it's just awesome."

Ogden's Kassie Harbatch is an aunt to Sloan Harbatch, a little girl who is deaf, blind and uses a wheelchair to get around. Harbatch said she brought Sloan to the playground to celebrate its opening and to support her friend, Clearfield City Council Member Dakota Wurth.

"We're so grateful for Clearfield City and for them putting this accessible here," Harbatch said. "It's a big, big deal, and we'll definitely be making the trip from Ogden to come out here and use the park."

Harbatch said Sloan's favorite part of the park was the different textures around the park, an all-abilities swing, and a carousel that lets wheelchair users enter and play while still in their wheelchairs.

Kerri Knudson, Harbatch's friend, came to the playground with her daughter, who went to Clearfield High School. Knudson uses a wheelchair after being born with a muscle disorder.

"I have never had an all-abilities playground that I could play on in my neighborhood my whole life," Knudson said. "I've never been able to play on most playgrounds."

Growing up, Knudson said an occupational therapist had to teach her how to play on a playground with her friends because there wasn't a lot of options when it came to playtime that they could all do together.

"That was really cool to be able to do monkey bars for the first time in my whole life, and I'm 44," Knudson said. "As a child, this was never a thing for me. I could watch my friends play, and we could play on the asphalt areas but, like, all of the playgrounds that I had growing up had tanbark on the ground or dirt and my wheelchairs couldn't go in it."

The playground at Fisher Park has a flat flooring with a squishy-like texture, making all the difference for people like Knudson, Sloan and Bouwhuis' 12-year-old son, Ian.

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