Children’s Center is gaining new ground, easing mobility

SEAN ELY

Published: July 8, 2009

BETHANY — When someone has severe physical and mental handicaps, no two trips are the same.

Uneven concrete, steep staircases and narrow walkways are just a few of the obstacles patients of The Children’s Center, as well as disabled people everywhere, may deal with in an average day.

And even if practice doesn’t always make perfect, it can contribute to better habits.

Landscape architect Brian Dougherty, Scott Fairbairn of Howard-Fairbairn Site Design, and The Children’s Center Chief Executive Officer Albert Gray have hit the ground running with construction of a two-acre, $410,000 therapeutic park just outside the center. The park will include a pond, a bridge for fishing, a 6-foot-wide surrounding sidewalk and nine surface challenges made of various materials.

The park’s bridge, pavilion and some of the barriers are expected to be finished in October, while the entire project is planned for completion by spring.

The surface challenges are screed-finish concrete, rubber surface, pea gravel, brick with mortar joints, mulch with barrier timbers, boardwalk decking, contoured water surfaces, limbo bars and concrete pavers.

The idea for the park originated two years ago when therapists, physicians and administrative members began discussing the increasing number of barriers in society, making it harder for disabled people to move around.

"We all realized these barriers have evolved throughout the community even though nobody is purposely making them,” Dougherty said. "One curb was discussed, then an area of busted up concrete or a patch of grass was brought up and it just took off from there.”

Dougherty said former patient Aaron Bullock, 17, validated everything, taking their ideas and giving them weight.

Bullock told Dougherty different barriers make learning to walk again extremely frustrating, even after two years of recovery at The Children’s Center. Bullock was discharged in April 2007.

Bullock, who suffered severe brain trauma after an ATV crash in April 2005, is working with Dougherty on his Eagle Scout Project, which focuses on entering and exiting a playground. Bullock also takes pictures throughout Oklahoma City, documenting obstacles the center could potentially address.

Bullock’s discharge didn’t motivate him to detach himself from the center, however. His role shifted from patient to volunteer — involving himself as much as possible.

"He’s unlike anyone you’ll ever meet,” said Lori Boyd, the center’s vice president of special projects. "Aaron came up with the design for his pod himself and will help build it. To see him go from the state he was in to walking out of here, that shows dedication. And now he wants to help others do the same thing.”

Boyd also said the park makes activities, such as fishing or picnics, much easier to host, as opposed to scheduling a fishing trip months in advance. With the park just outside, the center’s staff can keep an eye on weather and be closer to the facility if one of the patients becomes ill while on a "field trip.”

Aside from practicing mobility on different terrains, more than 200 patients will be able to have picnics under the covered patio and use a garden and a commons area.

The park’s construction is funded through grants from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Tourism Department’s Recreational Trails Program and the state Transportation Department.