Nine-year-old Miles Bowling has been waiting for this moment for five years, one month and 19 days. He grinned as he rolled his wheelchair over the solid rubber surfacing and made his way out to the middle of the playground.
“This is the best feeling ever,” he said.
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This is the first inclusive playground in Berthoud, meaning any kid of any ability can play on the structure. For Bowling, that means playing without needing help or having to leave his wheelchair the entire time. It opened for the first time this Saturday.
“Today feels crazy, but it's finally here,” Miles Bowling said.
But he isn’t just visiting this playground. He designed it, with the help of his parents and the support from the community.
Ever since he was young, Miles Bowling has watched his brothers run across playgrounds while he sat in his wheelchair on the sidewalk next to it. Many parks in Colorado have accessible elements, like adding a singular wheelchair swing, but they were not always fully inclusive.
He and his mom raised money through a lemonade stand to get one of those types of swings at a park near their house. Soon, the Bowlings started to dream and wonder: what if the whole park was inclusive?
It took some time to get everything in order, spread the word and fundraise $1.6 million for everything, but they were finally able to get it done.
“It's meant so much to our family and been such a big part of our lives,” Lauren Bowling, Miles’ mom, said. “He has been chomping at the bit waiting for this day.”
Miles Bowling decided to call it S’Miles Playground – a mix of his name and his nickname, which he got from smiling so much.
The farm-themed playground has several parts that were specifically modified for a wheelchair, like long ramps up into the play structure, a spinning merry-go-round that is flat on the ground, or – his favorite part – a metal gondola-looking swing that has a ramp that folds up as a wall.
“Seeing Miles on the wheelchair swing and capturing him say, ‘I've never been able to swing on my own before,’ was really special,” Lauren Bowling said.
There’s also new technology at the park, like a mini arch that has audio games loaded onto it. Kids can click a button, and it toggles through games like memorizing a set of numbers or dancing to a song. At the top of the hill is a DJ table where kids can mix and loop songs that are on their phone.
“It's unreal seeing the pictures for years and now it's brought to real life,” Lauren Bowling said. “It's beyond what I could have ever dreamt.”
Hundreds of kids and parents showed up for the grand opening, including the Stewards from Longmont. Their son, Leo, is a 13-year-old who uses a wheelchair and has a severe form of cerebral palsy called dystonia. His dad, Brad, could already notice a difference in Leo when he started rolling him up onto the higher ramps.
“He was super excited – the hand gestures, the wide eyes,” Brad Steward said. “It's places he's never been before.”
Leo’s mom, Antonette Steward, said her son usually has to sit off to the side when his siblings go to a playground. She’s tried to bring things for him to still make it fun and interesting, but she said it’s not the same. This park, however, is different.
“It means freedom,” Antonette Steward said, crying. “As soon as he (Brad) pushed him all the way in, he had him look over the rail, and he said, ‘Have you ever been this high in a playground before?’ And he had the biggest smile on his face. That means more than anything.”
She’s excited that this park is only 15 minutes from their house. She plans to bring her family back soon and cannot wait to see everyone playing together.
That is Miles Bowling's dream, and he does not plan to stop here. His mom said he is already dreaming of making water parks more inclusive. For now, though, he is glad he can finally use his non-water slides.
