A new adaptive, all-user playground is coming to Mequon Rotary Park, and the families who have waited years for it are already picturing their kids there. The project, led by the Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club, is designed to welcome children and adults of all ages and abilities, with features like a communication board to help children express their feelings and a perimeter fence meant to ease parents' minds about wandering.
As reported by TMJ4 News, the Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club is preparing to break ground on the playground at the 95-acre park at 4100 Highland Road. Elizabeth Suran, a Mequon parent and member of Mel's Charities and the Mequon Rotary Club, takes her children to the current playground at the park — the same one she played on as a child. Suran said the fence planned for the new space will let parents relax, since her non-verbal nephew is a runner, according to the station's report.
Her seven-year-old daughter, Madison Suran, put it simply: anybody can go to the new playground, regardless of who they are, per the same account. That inclusive framing is central to how organizers describe the project — Jenne Hohn, a Rotary past president and current foundation board member who has volunteered with the intellectual and developmental disabilities community for eight years, said the playground will let everyone play in her community.
A Fundraising Push Years in the Making
The push to build an all-user playground didn't start this year. According to the Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club, the idea was first identified as a community need during the City of Mequon's 2019 master planning process, but formal development stalled when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The Mequon Common Council later approved a pre-development agreement for the project in April 2024, unanimously endorsing it after a recommendation from the city's Park and Open Space Board.
Lynn Streeter, a member of the Mequon-Thiensville Sunrise Rotary Club, said the playground's vision grew directly from what community families said they needed: places where people could come together across generations. Organizers have also pointed to aging infrastructure as part of the motivation, noting that most play equipment across Mequon's municipal park system is more than 30 years old and lacks modern accessibility features for visitors using wheelchairs or walkers, according to the Mequon Rotary Park Playground Project.
Design Details and a Milestone Gift
The playground's design, from Gerber Leisure and Zimmerman Architectural Studios, goes well beyond a standard swing set. Plans call for adult exercise equipment, quiet shaded retreat areas, custom climbing elements at varying heights, wheelchair-accessible gliders, and braille signage for people with visual impairments, per the Mequon Rotary Park Playground Project.
As of August 2026, the capital campaign has secured $3 million toward its $4.55 million total goal, leaving $1.5 million still to raise. A major share of that progress came from a $1 million commitment by Microsoft President Brad Smith and his wife Kathy — a $750,000 personal contribution plus a $250,000 three-year Microsoft corporate match — made in honor of his father, longtime Rotarian and campaign co-chair Stan Smith, who has volunteered with Rotary in Mequon since 1977. Other major backers include Gentian Financial, Port Washington State Bank, Bank Five Nine, the Charter Manufacturing Company Foundation, and the Mequon-Thiensville Community Foundation.
Community Event Aims to Close the Gap
Organizers hosted a Party for the Playground event Saturday aimed at pushing the funding goal across the finish line while also educating the community about what adaptive playgrounds provide. Mel's Charities and the Rotary club are both listed as supporters of the broader project. Exact groundbreaking and completion timelines, along with the final strategy for closing the remaining $1.5 million gap, have not yet been announced.
The playground push arrives alongside other local investment in play space. Hoodline previously reported that the Mequon-Thiensville School District approved a preliminary $55.07 million tax levy budget in July that directs community service funds toward a separate Gather & Play recreation and playground upgrade at Range Line Community Center, supported by a tentative $375,000 DNR grant. Together, the projects reflect what organizers describe as strong appetite — both public and private — for modernizing Mequon's outdoor family spaces.
The current push also carries historical weight for local Rotary clubs. Rotary Park itself was established in 1987 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Thiensville-Mequon Rotary Club, which donated the land to the City of Mequon in 1991. Rotary International later awarded the club its Significant Achievement Award in 1992 for the five-year effort that turned the land into a park in the first place.
