A new playground in Yorkville is now officially award-winning.

The Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department was recognized by the Illinois Park and Recreation Association for its installation of Rotary Park, a groundbreaking “inclusive playground.”

The parks staff traveled to a conference to accept the 2025 Outstanding Park Award (Division I).

The award celebrates a new era for the city’s parks, namely the transformation to more inclusive playground equipment to better accommodate the needs of the community.

The award “celebrates not only the incredible work of our staff, but also our successful grant partnership with GameTime, helping us create a playground where everyone can play, explore, and belong,” the parks staff said in a post.

The award-winning playground is located at 2775 Grande Trail.

Rotary Park was the city’s first-ever inclusive playground. The design was said to “give children with or without a disability the same platform to play while breaking down barriers, both physically and socially.”

The park includes several ramps providing greater access to the fun playground equipment that is designed in a more horizontal way versus the traditional vertical playgrounds.

“Our neighbors are all of different abilities and we want to make sure that we’re being inclusive to all of them, whether that is somebody in a wheelchair, or even adults who might require greater accessibility,” Scott Sleezer, superintendent of parks, previously said. “We want to make sure that we’re providing the best space for allowing kids and parents to play side by side.”

The focus on horizontal spaces and multiple entryways to the play equipment is designed to encourage children to interact and play with each other.

Parents and grandparents can also participate in the fun because the design enables them to get up-close to their children while they are playing on the equipment.

The park also features sensory play items and musical components for children sensitive to high-stimulated environments.

To accomplish the installation, the city partnered with GameTime, who matched the funds purchased by the city. This cut the city’s costs for the equipment in-half.

The total cost for purchase and installation of the playground equipment was $353,566, with the city responsible for $175,408 and the rest covered by GameTime.

The current 12-acre park also features a zip-line, a skateboarding area, pickleball courts and a baseball field.