Summit's transformed Mabie Playground opens Wednesday, July 29, with a 2 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Eric LeGrand, the former Rutgers football player turned disability advocate who has championed inclusive recreation spaces since a 2010 spinal cord injury left him paralyzed.
The playground on the Village Green is the city's first fully accessible, all-abilities play space. It cost approximately $1.59 million and took roughly four years from initial community input in 2022 to completion.
LeGrand, a Woodbridge native, sustained his injury during a game at MetLife Stadium in October 2010. He has since raised more than $2 million for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation through his organization Team LeGrand and received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2012 ESPY Awards.
Five funding sources made it happen
About $1 million of the project's cost came through grants, according to city officials. The largest was a $750,000 award from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Green Acres Jake's Law Program. Additional support came from Union County's Kids Recreation Trust Fund, the New Jersey Local Recreation Improvement Grant Program, The Summit Foundation, the Junior League of Summit, and individual donors.
Mayor Elizabeth Fagan called the playground "an incredible asset" at the October 2025 groundbreaking, noting it sits "right in the heart of our city."
Built on community input
David Guida, the city's assistant director of community programs, said at the October 2025 groundbreaking that his team gathered feedback from seniors, parents of children with special needs, and residents near the playground to shape the design.
The result includes wheelchair-accessible dual-lane ziplines, a sensory-friendly main play structure, a communication board with pictures to support inclusive play, and a "signal beacon climber" that nods to the beacon in Summit's city logo.
Construction began Nov. 3, 2025, after bids came in over budget twice during earlier rounds.
Three new playgrounds by year's end
"By the end of this year, we'll have three brand-new playgrounds in Summit," Guida said at a city meeting on July 25.
Tatlock Playground has reopened. The city is also planning a new East Summit neighborhood playground with a smaller footprint focused on pedestrian access and reduced traffic impact.
Separately, the city is redesigning Memorial Playground with an athletic and obstacle-course theme. A community survey collecting resident input closes Saturday, Aug. 1.
Upcoming community calendar
- Wednesday, July 29, 2 p.m. — Mabie Playground ribbon-cutting, Village Green (weather permitting)
- Saturday, Aug. 1 — Deadline for Memorial Playground community design survey
