City of Talladega Blog

(Talladega, AL) The City of Talladega is celebrating the opening of two new playgrounds in one week! A grand opening for Unity Playground, Talladega’s first-ever inclusive, fully-accessible ADA public playground, will be held Monday, June 2, 2025, at 3:30 p.m. The playground is located at the far end of Veterans Park. (Enter at George Holdridge Lane.) Also, a ribbon cutting for the new playground at Fire Station 2 will be held on Tuesday at 11 a.m. 

“Our community has dreamed of establishing a truly accessible public playground for many years. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, this dream will soon become a reality,” said City Manager Derrick Swanson. “Unity Playground will help children of all abilities to develop socially, emotionally and physically.  It will benefit those who are blind, deaf or deaf/blind; those with diverse health conditions; and those who use wheelchairs.”

The Unity Playground project began in December 2023, when T-Mobile presented the City of Talladega with a prestigious $50,000 T-Mobile Hometown Grant to help establish the playground in Veterans Park. Talladega Clay Randolph Childcare Corporation (TCR) stepped forward to contribute $75,000. These major contributions, along with a $50,000 commitment from the city and additional support from the ARC of North Talladega County, TOP Trails OHV Park, Talladega Main Street, Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind, Teresa Jackson, Shaneeka Phillips, Charles (Charlie) and Elizabeth Grace Diggs, Summer Ammons and Mary Sood helped to fund the new playground.  

If you would like to make a donation, please contact Mary Sood at msood@talladega.com. The names of all individuals, businesses and organizations who donate $500 or more will be listed on a permanent plaque in the park.  

TESTIMONIALS: 

Talladega resident Edna Richardson is excited about having a playground that her daughter can enjoy.

“Stacie is a long term cancer survivor. She had leukemia at two, and she also had colon and kidney cancer. Regardless of that, she loves to play, and play is crucial to her development socially and emotionally,” said Richardson. “Unfortunately, at most parks, the equipment is not developed for children with special needs. Most parks are not geared for Stacie. The equipment is too high or simply unsafe for her. To have a playground in our community that she can actually use will be wonderful.”

Margaret Chandler agrees. 

“My daughter was born with spina bifida and uses a wheelchair for mobility. She would absolutely love an accessible park. Any parks that we have been to have been so limited in accessibility that it was a trip wasted,” Chandler said.

Unity Playground will also benefit children who do not require an ADA compliant environment as they may have parents, guardians, siblings or friends who are blind, deaf or deaf/blind; have diverse health conditions; and/or use wheelchairs. The playground equipment is specially designed for inclusivity as well as accessibility, which will allow children of all abilities to play together.