Jonesboro has a renovated playground at University Heights Lions Club Park, built so a wheelchair route and a rope climb can get children onto equipment that used to sit out of reach.
The playground was unveiled at a ribbon-cutting Tuesday morning, Jonesboro Right Now reported. The park is at 502 N. Bridge St.
What the New Equipment Does
The renovation is meant to be more inclusive for children with disabilities. It includes a paved walkway for wheelchair users, wheelchair-accessible artificial turf, and a rope climbing feature intended to help children who cannot walk reach slides and other equipment.
That rope climb is the practical piece. A paved path gets a wheelchair to the play area. The climb is there so a child who cannot walk is not left at the edge of the slides.
Parks and Recreation Director Jim Stearns told Jonesboro Right Now the goal is that "everybody has access regardless of their ability or disability." He also said the upgrades are aimed at safety, enhancement and activity.
A Park That Had Fallen Behind
Before the work, Stearns said, the park was in disrepair. The city announced in October 2025 that upgrades were already underway, as part of a series of playground projects meant to emphasize inclusivity.
Jonesboro Right Now reported that the University Heights project cost a little under $295,000 and described it as a new ADA playground. The same reporting placed the work in Jonesboro's Master Parks Plan and Health Accelerator Plan, a blueprint for retrofitting the city's parks so they are more inclusive and adaptive for people with disabilities.
Mayor Harold Copenhaver has said city parks should be brought up to date and made more accessible to all community members. He has also said the renovated park lets people use a park in their own community, rather than treating accessible play as something that happens somewhere else.
Disciple Drive Is Still a Plan
University Heights is one stop in that series. The planned Disciple Drive park, in the Hilltop area, is the larger one still ahead of it.
KAIT has described it as an 18-acre all-inclusive park that Copenhaver says will be built so every child can enjoy it, no matter their abilities. The reported design includes turf and multiple trails leading into the park. Jonesboro Right Now has also reported a splash pad, walking trails and green space.
Those are plans, not an opening date. In late September, KAIT reported that work was expected to start in the spring, with a goal of wrapping up sometime in 2027. In October, city officials told Jonesboro Right Now they hoped to finish by the end of summer 2027. Neither report is a construction schedule that has been updated since.
Allen Park and the State Match
The inclusive-play push did not start at Bridge Street. In December 2024, the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism awarded Jonesboro $189,515 for a universally accessible playground at Allen Park, NEA Report reported. The city was to match that grant dollar for dollar.
The Allen Park plan called for accessible ramps, a We-Go-Round, swings, slides, a synthetic surface, sensory play structures and braille panels. That is a different park, with a different funding mix, from the renovation just opened on Bridge Street.
University Heights Lions Club Park is open to visitors at 502 N. Bridge St. Disciple Drive remains the unfinished piece of the series, last described with a 2027 completion target rather than a finished playground.
