As Camber Property plans to expand Stevenson Commons in Soundview and add more housing and amenities, it also hopes to create a sensory park on the property as well.
A sensory park is designed specifically for children with special needs and autism.
Community Board 9 supports this idea and on Feb. 10, its Parks Committee spoke with Camber about it.
“I would like to get a committee with the landlord and advocacy groups and get people together for their input,” said District Manager William Rivera. “We’ve talked about having this type of park in the district for a long time.”
As there are board members with children who have autism and many in the community, this will benefit numerous families, Rivera explained. He hopes parents can work with the community board and developer to come up with a design for how they would want the park to look.
Rick Gropper, principal at Camber, looks forward to creating the sensory park.
“This is something we care a lot about,” he explained. “I personally use a wheelchair and didn’t have a park like this growing up and it doesn’t exist in most places.”
Board member Kwabena Gabay and Chieue Jones wanted to know how the park will dampen out sounds from the street and if it will be open to the public or just residents of Stevenson.
Melissa Bindra, director of development at Camber, assured them all of these things will be discussed with parents and the park will hopefully be installed in a few years.
