An Inclusive Playground For All
Franklin’s first inclusive park will be named in memory of Elliott Grace Castro, known as Ellie G, who passed away at the age of four in September 2019. Ellie G was the granddaughter of Franklin Alderman Brandy Blanton and was born with a very rare, terminal form of dwarfism called Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata (RCDP). During her short life, she proved to be an example of courage, strength and joy to all who had the privilege to know her or know of her.
Her parents, Samantha and Brandon Castro, were told her life expectancy was less than a week at birth. However, Ellie G defied the odds and would pave the way — along with help from State Representative Charles Sargent — to make sure that any child born in Tennessee with RCDP would receive life-changing services and support from the Tennessee Early Intervention System, putting RCDP on the list of accepted diagnoses.
The community embraced this little girl and her family and showed their support in a myriad of ways. In 2015, there was a fundraiser called Light the Way hosted at Franklin’s Eastern Flank Battlefield Park, with live music, food and a children’s play area appropriately named Elliott’s Dream World — the origin of the name of this park that will improve the quality of life for all families in Williamson County and beyond.
The soon-to-be inclusive playground will be housed within the new Southeast Municipal Complex located on Carothers Parkway. The park is on three acres and will include five football fields, miles of walking trails, concessions, ADA accessible restrooms, a pavilion and the first public inclusive playground within the Franklin Parks System.
The playground will have a safari theme four to six times larger than the Tinkerbell Playground at Pinkerton Park. It will be designed for two specific phases. The first phase will be the play structures and park amenities, along with the pavilion and plenty of shade structures throughout. The second phase will include an outdoor fitness area, an amphitheater and will be constructed during the second round of funding for the park. This portion of the project will also include lacrosse fields and other court sports, like pickleball. The playground will have fully accessible restrooms with built-in baby changing stations, as well as dedicated men’s and women’s change rooms equipped with built-in changing tables that can accommodate larger children, teens or adults. In addition to these facilities, there will be a mother’s nursing room.
The total cost of the inclusive playground is approximately $3 million, and Friends of Franklin Parks is committed to raising $1.5 million of that cost. If you or your business would like to donate or become a sponsor of Ellie G’s Dream World, please contact Friends of Franklin Parks Executive Director Torrey Barnhill at torrey@friendsoffranklinparks.org. Visit friendsoffranklinparks.org/inclusive-playground to learn more.
