"Play is something every kid needs:" All-accessible playground being built in New Berlin

NEW BERLIN -- More than a thousand volunteers are getting their hands dirty in New Berlin to give all kids a new place to play -- a park where kids in wheelchairs or the hearing impaired can go down the slide or have fun on the swings.

Malone Park, a new all-accessible playground, is going up in New Berlin.

"Every piece of equipment we're putting on the playground is accessible for everyone, so those in wheelchairs or those with mobility issues can still play alongside their friends," said Jen Macakanja, New Berlin Junior Woman's Club -- playground steering committee.

The new park will have ramps, bucket swings, lower monkey bars, a rubberized floor instead of woodchips and a metal slide for kids with cochlear implants.

Jenny Imhoff is grateful she will no longer have to drive her daughter, who uses a wheelchair, to the all-accessible park in Oconomowoc.

"For Reagan to just go here with her friends from school, they can come play, get on the swings, run up and down the ramps, do all those things that kids love to do and always feel a part of it -- not have to be sitting on the side watching the other kids play, which is what she had to do when she was little," said Imoff.

The New Berlin Junior Woman's Club teamed up with the city for the project. The design by a firm in New York is based off ideas from kids in the community.

"Play is something every kid needs. Every kid deserves that chance and that opportunity," said Imhoff.

Volunteers will be building all week --  but the official opening date for the new park is in July.