DALTON, Mass. — The Americans with Disabilities Act Committee is exploring adding playground mats to town parks. 

 

These mats would be laid out to provide accessible routes to playground equipment and swings.

 

ADA coordinator Alyssa Maschino heard about these mats while attending an Advanced Community Access Monitor Training. 

 

"[The state Division of Professional Licensure Office of Public Safety and Inspections Architectural Access Board] brought this up which I thought was very clever," Maschino said. 

 

"It's like a rubber matting system, which is very inexpensive compared to paving a pathway in the parks." 

 

The mats are fixed to the ground using pins and nubs. They are also secured to play equipment and swing sets using plastic stakes and stainless steel pins. The mats are connected to each other using zip ties. The mats are "relatively" quick to install and easy to maintain and repair. 

 

Newton paid approximately $3,000 to cover the costs of the mats at one of its parks but it looks like they did quite a bit, Maschino said. 

 

"Anything we can do to accentuate the beautiful parks we have and to make Dalton a more enjoyable, livable, accessible place," committee member Lyn Clements said. 

 

"It not only makes it easier for those children and adults who already live here. It makes us more attractive to diversify our community more and I think that's a great thing." 

 

These mats could also help in case the town considers investing in an ADA swing so disabled children can also enjoy the town parks, similar to Springside Park, Maschino said. 

 

The Green Committee is going to need something like this because it is putting electric vehicle chargers at Pine Grove Park, committee member David Wasielewski said. Wasielewski also serves as the town's Green Committee chair. 

 

"We're gonna need something to stabilize that area as well and make it accessible," he said. 

 

Maschino is currently in communication with Highway Superintendent Edward "Bud" Hall to gauge his interest.