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Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government (2017) Print
2017 AARP Community Challenge Grantee
Project Category
Public places
└ Park enhancements
└ Park enhancements
To give residents a comfortable space to hold a conversation, the Lexington Senior Center installed new accessible benches and raised planters in Idle Hour Park. Guided by a physical therapy student's research, which showed many people are uncomfortable twisting to converse with someone seated beside them, the benches sit in a U shape. This placement allows people to choose whether to sit next to or across from one another. Each seating area also includes extra space for a wheelchair user to join in.
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Omaha, NE
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: As part of efforts to revitalize a vacant building in Upland Park, this project made accessibility upgrades nearby. Project organizers installed a new walking path and accessible seating onsite. To beautify the space, volunteers worked to create public art. Additionally, this project replaced temporary garden beds with permanent raised-bed planters, which allow people to garden without having to squat down -- making the activity possible for people of all ages and abilities.
Mounds, IL
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: The City of Mounds made accessibility improvements to its City Park to ensure the space is welcoming to people of all ages and abilities. This included outfitting restrooms to be ADA-compliant, adding a ramp to the park's gazebo and installing benches and picnic tables with shade umbrellas.
East Hope, ID
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2025
Project Category: Park enhancements
Description: This project will build a covered pavilion in a city park, providing a safe, shaded space for community members of all ages. The pavilion will provide protection from the sun and support various community events and gatherings.
Nearby AARP Community Challenge Projects
Lexington, KY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2022
Project Category: Developing projects based on residents' priorities
Description: To strengthen relations between grandparents and grandchildren, this project staged events at which attendees could plant trees and flower bulbs or buildfree mini libraries(or both) in locations across Kentucky.
Lexington, KY
AARP Community Challenge Grant Year: 2019
Project Category: Community Gardens
Description: Organizers with Seedleaf hoped to provide a more comfortable experience for the many older adults who maintain one of its free community gardens. To do this, Seedleaf provided ergonomic garden tools -- including shovels and trowels -- designed for people with arthritis to use. They also purchased portable, raised seats that gardeners can place alongside garden beds, as well as a foldable wagon to collect harvested vegetables and a shed to house the new tools. To provide a space for visitors to rest and socialize, the nonprofit worked with a local carpenter to build two sturdy, cedar benches.
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