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Greenland, NH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2021
Project Category: Accessibility of amenities
Description: The Great Bay Discovery Center serves to support land protection and research, as well as provide a space for learning about the Great Bay estuarine ecosystem. To make the space more welcoming, the Great Bay Stewards expanded the Center's accessible garden, adding a new sensory garden and an accessible swing. The Estuary Inclusion Garden now features a space where people with intellectual disabilities can experience the area through sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. The centerpiece of the garden is a blue heron sculpture created by a local artist and surrounded by grasses, flowers and herbs.
Londonderry, NH
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Accessibility of amenities
Description: To increase accessibility in its public spaces, the Town of Londonderry installed ten park benches in the Town Common and adjacent Kent Allen Town Forest. This accessibility upgrade sparked additional work there, including drainage improvements and the addition of native plants to the forest. In addition, the local Girl Scout troop installed a story book trail at the site. Since adding the benches, the town has also seen increased trail usage.
Saco, ME
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2018
Project Category: Accessibility of amenities
Description: Saco is a coastal community with seven miles of sandy beaches. Until recently, there was no beach access for people using wheelchairs or other mobility devices. That changed thanks to the purchase and installation of three ADA-compliant beach mats. The mats run from a parking lot to the high tide mark, as well as parallel to the beach. Grant funding from AARP also helped Saco attract a donation from the local Rotary Club to purchase a beach wheelchair and beach walker. Lifeguards manage and loan out the accessibility equipment.
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Gulfport, MS
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2017
Project Category: Public place improvements to withstand extreme weather events
Description: After Hurricane Katrina nearly leveled the Bayou View West neighborhood in 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency bought out the remaining residents and handed the property over to the city. Today, the 40-acre tract is known as Brickyard Bayou Park. This project created the city's first dog park at the site. Known as the Bark Park, it attracted more than 200 people and dogs on its opening day in 2017. the space acts as a buffer -- if the area floods again, homes won't be at risk. And once the park dries out, people and pups can return. Since the Bark Park's creation, the City of Gulfport has added a kayak launch, a disc golf course, a nature trail and an outdoor classroom to Brickyard Bayou Park.
Gulfport, MS
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Public space improvements to support recovery after extreme weather events
Description: As part of revitalization efforts following flooding from Hurricane Katrina, the City of Gulfport set out to give cyclists and pedestrians a place to shelter from the weather and sun. They installed a 20-square-foot safe-weather pavilion and benches along a new bike trail in Brickyard Bayou Park. The trail connects park visitors to amenities, including an outdoor classroom, dog park and community garden. Organizers report the pavilion project has since inspired other similar structures and trails in Gulfport.
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