The Woodridge Park District is leading the way in park design for people with disabilities.

During the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Forest Glen park on Saturday Mark Trieglaff, a consultant with Wheaton-based Accessibility Consultation and Training Services, told a crowd of about 50 that the park has been identified by a national organization as a model for future park development.

“Forest Glen park has been identified as a premier park to accommodate those with disabilities, and the National Center on Accessibility said it will use the park a a model for future park development,” Trieglaff said.

Trieglaff was retained as a consultant by the Woodridge park District to help write a grant that helped fund the redevelopment of what used to be 75th Street Park at 75th Street and Woodridge Drive in Woodridge.

A few months ago, the park district learned it would receive $316,000 from the Kellogg Foundation through the DuPage Community Foundation to defray the $800,000 cost to build the park.

“We are extremely proud to open this wonderful park, which is the most accessible park within our system,” said Fred Hohnke, president of the Woodridge Park District Board.

The park features accessible swings, a playground with a variety of amenities, a raised sensory garden and a picnic pavilion that doubles as a park shelter.

The garden includes a variety of colorful plantings, as well as a water feature in which small statues of animals spray water into a basin when triggered by visitors.

“The wonderful thing about this unique park is it is accessible to those with a wide range of abilities, but also it appeals to so many senses, like touch, sound, smell and hearing,” said Susan Friend, executive director of the South East Association or Special parks and Recreation.

“There are so many children with sensory disabilities, it is nice to see a sensory garden that will appeal to the sense of smell after spring plantings, a slide that has rollers so kids can feel the slide beneath them or hear it as they go down,” Friend said. “Senses need to be stimulated.”

Noah Bass, a 4-year-old Woodridge resident, was among more than 25 children who ran through the playground testing various features following the ceremony.

While Noah was going down the slide made of rollers ,his mother, Marcie Bass, praised the park’s design.

“We actually came out a day early and were trying out the different elements of the playground,” Bass said. “Noah’s favorite, obviously, is the bumpy slide.”

Several adults tried the slide as well, some holding children on their laps.

“What’s really nice is that the park is not just for children, but allows parents and grandparents who themselves have disabilities to play with their own children,” said Dan Garvy, director of the Lisle Park District and president of the SEASPAR Board of Directors.

The park will remain all year, and a dedication ceremony will be in May will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the park district’s incorporation.

“We are very proud that this park not only meets, but exceeds national accessibility standards,” said Mike Adams, director of the Woodridge Park District. “We are glad the park will serve as a model for other parks in the future.”