Children with special needs, older adults, and parents from all over Cupertino flooded the newly constructed playspace, eager to witness the results of the year-long project. With live band music and a bustling dance floor, the crowd clapped as Cupertino Mayor Liang Chao cut the red ribbon, marking the completion of Cupertino’s first all-inclusive playground.
Beginning construction in July of 2024, the renovated playground officially opened in May of 2025 at Jollyman Park, featuring 0.85 acres for the central play area plus a landscaped area around the park. The project cost $5.4 million,, with around $2.4 million from city funding, $1 million provided by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and a $25,000 donation from PG&E. The rest of the money came from community donations.
As of 2015, there were only two all-inclusive, meaning accessible to all disabilities, ranging from ADHD to autism, playgrounds in Santa Clara County — the Palo Alto Magical Bridge Playground in April of 2015 and the San Jose Rotary Play Garden officially opened in May of 2015. Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Council member Joe Simitian had proposed a matching grant for all-inclusive playgrounds, which was approved in 2018, where Santa Clara County would provide up to $2 million if an applicant could fundraise enough within a set timeframe. Simitian’s goal was to eventually construct 25 all-inclusive playgrounds across Santa Clara County.
“I’m not sure my other colleagues were as excited about the potential as I was, until they saw the level of enthusiasm out in the community,” Simitian said. “We had far more applications than we could fund. People became very excited about it. People were thinking, ‘It’s time for an upgrade. Time for us to take a tired old facility and make it 21st Century.’ We had an opportunity here to guide how that might best be done in terms of addressing folks in the community of all abilities.”
According to Chao, the council originally considered three different parks for renovation — Jollyman, Creekside and Memorial Park — with Jollyman and Creekside being the most popular. Using a ranking system that examined varying factors such as size and popularity, the council ultimately deemed Jollyman Park the most suitable due to its quieter surroundings and spaciousness. Although there was some struggle choosing between the parks, according to Chao, finding a consultant was the most challenging step.
“Some people really wanted us to work with Magical Playground, which is a company that built the all-inclusive playground in Palo Alto, and they have been very successful building it in other cities,” Chao said. “However, the cost for Magical Playground was a concern, and we would have needed to do fundraising campaigns to raise more funds.”
Capital Development Director Susan Michael, who was in charge of playground construction management, mentions how Moore Iacofano Goltsman’s had been selected to construct the project due to their qualified concept in addition to their lower cost offer. MIG Inc. is a corporation that focuses on designing user-friendly, inclusive public spaces. At Jollyman’s new playground, MIG incorporated Universal Design principles like play theory, sensory zones and non-verbal communication to allow youth of all abilities to play together.
“I was impressed by the knowledge that MIG brought to the process,” Michael said. “One thing we get is people complaining about how somebody could fall from a playground, or somebody could hurt themselves. But MIG was researching how kids play, and one of the lead people said that if there’s not a little risk, it’s not play. If it’s just too easy, then there’s no fun in it. What you need is to measure and manage that risk so that it’s not dangerous, but you still have to give it a little edge. That was fascinating. I learned a lot.”
Specific features of the playground that Michael and her coworkers implemented in the outline were a slide hill, nonverbal communication signage, accessible swings, an interactive art feature, a net climber and braille and Chinese signs. The goal of the final design was ultimately to be usable by all children and adults, regardless of their physical or cognitive abilities. Due to the overall hype around the playground, Simitian plans to continue advocating for similar projects and making Cupertino a more accessible and inclusive community for all.
“My hope and expectation is that the all-inclusive playground at Jollyman Park will not only provide a recreational resource that every member of the community deserves, but that it will also help foster understanding between and among various folks in the county,” Simitian said. “My hope is that 50 years from now, people will look back and say, ‘Can you believe that we ever designed playgrounds any other way?’”
