SHANE’S INSPIRATION
GRIFFITH PARK
4800 CRYSTAL SPRINGS ROAD
LOS ANGELES, CA 90027
OPENED SEPTEMBER 21, 2000

“This is not just another playground…It is a symbol of hope and love and a beacon of joy for thousands of children in our city.” Former Mayor Richard Riordan, speaking at the opening of “Shane’s Inspiration” in Griffith Park.

“Shane’s Inspiration” was the first Universally Accessible Playground in the Western United States and the largest in the nation. This remarkable play environment is the most popular playground in Los Angeles and has inspired the creation of Universally Accessible Playgrounds throughout Southern California and beyond…raising awareness and support for integrated play in the process.

Sitting on 2 acres in Griffith Park, this playground features a number of fantastic play structures, including:

• The Airplane: Cruise down the accessible “jetway” and take off on this jetliner. Pilot and co-pilot can manage the controls in the cockpit while checking their compass for direction. Don’t forget to radio the Control Tower via the talk tube radio…or check in on your cabin crew via a rear-aircraft talk tube. Your navigator can control the flight at the communication control panel and plot your route of travel across the states and major cities at the national map.


• Too turbulent? No problem. Make a speedy exit on either of the accessible slides. Immediately adjacent to the bottom of each slide is a landing pad, which gives with children mobility challenges the opportunity to depart the slide and comfortably wait for their wheelchair or walker to join them at the bottom of the slide.


• The Lucky Star Chaser: 3…2…1…lift off! This space shuttle gives children of all abilities a chance to adventure into space. The Lucky Star Chaser, generously supported by the Lucky Brand Foundation, stands 4 feet high. The length of your odyssey can be marked with the hourglass play panel and travel can be plotted on a space map. Young astronauts manning the controls of the Flight Deck will stay in close contact with Mission Control through talk tube radios. Flight crew members can watch the galaxy go by through the atmosphere-resistant bubble windows.
   
• Ronald’s Ship of Dreams: Come aboard matey and sail away to a tropical island…or perhaps the Artic Circle? Ronald’s Ship of Dreams, generously donated by Ronald McDonald House Charities, provides hours of imaginative play. Enter through the accessible “gangway” and explore the wheelhouse, complete with a talk tube radio system that keeps you in close contact with the Coast Guard and the engine room.