District 7 City Council member Luis Viera has championed building a sensory park in New Tampa since he first took office in 2016. The inspiration for the idea is personal — Viera’s older brother Juan has autism.
It’s somewhat fitting, then, that Viera’s labor-of-love — the New Tampa Sensory & Autism Friendly Park — will officially break ground on at 9 a.m. on Valentine’s Day (Monday, February 14), at the New Tampa Community Park in Tampa Palms.
“There have been some delays, like Covid, but it is a great day for New Tampa that this park is finally going to be built,” says Viera. “It’s going to be a big deal for a lot of people.”
While the city has made a number of improvements in recent years with playground equipment that has made its existing parks more accessible to children with autism, including the New Tampa Community Park, this full-fledged autism/sensory park will be the first of its kind in the city.
Proponents of the park have said that as many as 40,000 children in and around the New Tampa area are likely to use the park each year.
Viera said the lack of such facilities has always been a pet peeve of his. One year after being elected in 2016, he says he pulled the previous City of Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn aside and they had a long discussion on the importance of possibly building a sensory-friendly park for those on the autism spectrum.
Viera requested $90,000 be allocated in the 2018 budget for the design, and that the park be located in New Tampa.
He jokes that he told Buckhorn he would wrestle with whoever the next mayor was for the construction money to build the park.
Fortunately, it didn’t require too much wrestling. In 2020, current Tampa Mayor Jane Castor passed a $1.3-billion budget for Fiscal Year 2021, which included $1.7 million to build the park (rendering above).
The park, which was originally earmarked to be built on five acres of land behind the BJ’s Wholesale Club on Commerce Palms Dr. in Tampa Palms., is for children with a wide range of physical, cognitive, sensory and socio-emotional abilities.
It will include multiple play pieces that are wheelchair accessible, a sensory area geared towards children with autism or other sensory or cognitive challenges, a new art mural based on a ‘Fantastic Florida Nature’ theme, and more, all built on 10,000 sq. ft.
Those identified as having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) generally do not process information from their five senses as everyone else does, and can become overwhelmed and unable to communicate and interact because they are overcome with anxiety. The park will benefit families with children and adults with ASD (and other similar disorders) and focus more on soothing and serene activities.
Everyone, however, will be allowed to use the park. Viera says the hope is that all children will be able to play together.
With ASD numbers growing, from one in 150 children in a 2007 report to one in 44 children — according to the most recent data provided by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — sensory parks (and increased sensitivity to those afflicted with ASD) are becoming more prevalent across the country.
Most recently, the Wesley Chapel District Park, located 20-25 minutes north of New Tampa, opened a universally inclusive 7,000-sq.-ft. playground in 2019.
“I think this will be symbolic,” Viera says. “This tells parents raising kids with sensory issues that they are a priority, and that we care (about) and stand with them.”
To further his cause, which includes putting playground equipment for the disabled in every city park, Viera says he is looking to plan a handful of townhalls across Tampa — including one in New Tampa — to discuss other special needs concerns and how communities can help.
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