The Zimbalist family lived by a simple rule: “‘We don’t do things unless everybody can do them.” Above all, that included going to the park with their son, Mika.

“When he was young, he loved to go on the swing and slides,” Mumtaz Zimbalist, Mika’s mother, said. “He was little, so we were able to have him on our laps and that worked great.”

But once Mika started to grow older, going to the park and playing on the playground with other children became much more difficult. Mika was born with cerebral palsy due to toxemia in utero, meaning that he used wheelchairs and walkers for the majority of his life.

In February 2019, Mika suddenly passed away due to complications from a flu. Upon his death, Zimbalist felt the need to do something to commemorate her son, something she wished she had done when he was alive.

One year after his passing, the Edmonds Rotary Club is working to finance $250,000 to build Mika’s Playground, Edmonds’ first truly inclusive park that will be constructed as part of Civic Park’s renovation.

The City of Edmonds pledged to contribute half of the total funds needed to build Mika’s Playground, according to Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Deputy Director Shannon Burley. The playground was originally estimated to cost $800,000, so the fundraising goal for the playground was $400,000. After further estimates, the total expected cost was lowered to $500,000, bringing down the fundraising total to $250,000.

David Kaufer, chair of the Edmonds Rotary Club’s Inclusive Playground Committee, has been involved in raising the necessary funds for the rubberized coating and other structures. He got involved with the project last spring while he was serving as Rotary Club president — and Mumtaz and her sister, Salma Walji, came to the city with the idea to make Civic Park’s new playground an inclusive space in memory of Mika.

Edmonds is already home to one accessible playground, Seaview Park, that opened in July 2019. While the playground does feature a rubber fall surface and interactive spaces that can accommodate wheelchairs and walkers, Seaview Park is located on a hill, which impacts its ability to be fully inclusive, according to Julie Kuehn. 

Seaview Park was inspired by Jacob Kuehn, an Edmonds boy who also has cerebral palsy and uses a walker or wheelchair to help get around.

““There’s a disc swing, there’s an adaptive swing for kids that are a bit bigger but still need support,” Julie Kuehn, Jacob’s mother, said. “So it’s not fully inclusive, it’s more like inclusive-like. And the idea behind Mika’s Playground is that a child in a wheelchair or a walker will be fully able to participate.”

While all playgrounds in Edmonds are ADA compliant, many of them use wood chips as a fall surface because they are a cheap alternative to rubberized coating. Although the rubberized surface is expensive, it is a key part of what makes playgrounds inclusive, so that children and other community members can access the playground structures if they are in a wheelchair or walker. 

Kaufer was especially touched by the project since he has a 14-year-old son who is on the autism spectrum. 

“He is out of the playground age now, but as a parent, this is a big part of growing up,” Kaufer said. “You want them to be able to play on a playground. And while his challenges are not the same as a child in a wheelchair, not every playground was optimal for him.”

Inspiration Playground is a large inclusive playground in Bellevue was funded due through the Bellevue Rotary Club.  The first time Kaufer visited Inspiration Playground with his family, he was blown away by the opportunities for children with disabilities to play. He is excited about the prospect of bringing this type of a space to Edmonds, as is Mayor Mike Nelson.

While on the city council prior to being elected mayor,  Nelson was instrumental in the inclusive renovation of Seaview Park. Edmonds chooses one park each year to upgrade, and Nelson has made it his goal as mayor to bring inclusive elements to all future park upgrades.

“If we upgrade, we want to make sure it is the most accessible it can be,” Nelson said. 

Mika’s Playground is going to be a destination playground for families all over the region, much like Inspiration Playground is for Bellevue, according to Kuehn.

“Of all the things for them to be attracted to, that’s a wonderful thing,” Nelson said. “Although, it shouldn’t be an attraction, it should be commonplace.”

Construction on Mika’s Playground is set to begin later this year.  You can learn more and donate at mikasplayground.org.

— By Rachel Morgan