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Every child will soon be able to enjoy an indoor play paradise that prioritizes safety, fun, and community during all of Lubbock’s seasons.
Milestones Development and Play Park, 6301 Marsha Sharp Freeway, will open the doors on its 20,000 sq. ft. building on Dec. 1. Once open, children will be able to play on one of three colorful structures and enjoy activity classes – such as art and imagination.
Alström Angels, a local non-profit dedicated to raising funds for Alström Syndrome research, operates Milestones. Cassie Johnston, executive director and co-founder of Alström Angels, discussed the exciting plans for Milestones as she walked through the facility on Aug. 29.
“There’s just so many great things that can happen inside these walls,” Johnston said. “Even though we’ve made it with our special-needs children in mind, this is for everyone. Hopefully, everyone’s experience here will be enjoyable, and everyone will feel accepted and welcome.”
Milestones Park offers classes, parties, playtime
Milestones will have several activity classrooms for children and their guardians to work together. Another class will be the Imagination Movers class. These will be themed and go back to encouraging children to use their imagination, like turning a cardboard box into a space ship.
“The whole idea is getting back to traditional old school imaginative play, stepping away from electronics and really engaging our imagination,” Johnston said.
Another class will be for babies six months and younger, and will teach guardians calming techniques for their children.
“Every single activity is designed with a specific purpose in mind – a development purpose, milestone or goal,” Johnston said. “We want to make sure every child is hitting milestones.”
While these classrooms don’t have desks, and may not be traditional, the curriculum has been designed by board certified occupational therapists. Children in these classes will also get access to the park as part of their tuition.
The park will continue to encourage imaginative play through its three structures, which are themed after a dream home, a jungle safari, and a land of candy. The Lollypop Land structure will be limited to children 5 years and younger, while the other structures are open to all children older than 6 months.
“We just felt it was really important to have a space where the little ones can not get run over,” Johnston said.
All children, all ability levels, will be welcome
A notable feature shared by all the structures is child-friendly netting all around.
“That is really important for any child, like my youngest daughter, who has special needs,” Johnston said. “She is vision-impaired. Nobody is going to fall off an edge or a side, and parents can see through the structures.”
Along the back wall, children will have the opportunity to use a horizontal climbing wall. There will be open space for children to play on scooters, jump ropes, hula hoops, and more toys and equipment.
And, for children who may get overwhelmed, the Quiet Room will allow children to calm down with low lights, calm music and sensory items.
“This will be a neat thing to have, especially for our autism community and some of our kids who easily get overstimulated,” Johnston said. “The staff will be trained on how to interact and help kids of all ability levels.”
The park’s touch points will be cleaned three times a day by staff, and the entire facility will be deep cleaned weekly. Once a month, Milestones will get a hospital-grade sanitation. As part of a sponsorship from University Medical Center and Covenant Children’s, those children will have their own day to play.
“When we were talking to them about it, they said people don’t think about, for example, kids going through cancer treatment not having hair,” Johnston said. “They get looks and stares and questions. And, number one, going to a public park is dangerous, because they’re immune suppressed. Now, they will have a place to come and play where everyone is just like them.”
Johnston said the community has rallied behind the park, and people have asked for accommodations for other groups. Another accommodation includes a sensory friendly hour.
“It’s do great to be able to change up what we do to accommodate and help other kids,” Johnston said.
Milestones was built to accommodate all children, including those with special needs. The initial plan for a safe, indoor park began with one child in mind – Johnston’s youngest daughter, Bryce.
How did Milestones Park begin? A lunch conversation and Alström Syndrome
Though about 13 years have passed, Johnston clearly recalled that day in Target with Bryce, then 5-and-a-half months old.
“I was just going through the store and talking to her and when I looked down one time, I thought I saw something, but I wasn’t quite sure what I thought I saw,” Johnston said. “Her actual eyeballs were moving, the best way I can describe, it was like a bobble head.”
That moment began a two-and-a-half year journey filled with doctor visits and tests as health problems started.
“Nobody knew, and I thought, how is that possible that we still don’t know,” Johnston said. “So, I changed up my search one night … it pulled up all kinds of diseases, a lot of them we’d already tested for and ruled out, but then there were some I’d never heard of before.”
She clicked on a link about Alström Syndrome, a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder. Her heart sank.
“It was describing Bryce all the way down to her physical appearance,” Johnston said. “It’s so rare. We live in Lubbock, Texas, I thought, ‘there’s no way my daughter has this.'”
A few weeks later, Johnston, still unsure if her online search had yielded true results, found an online chat group for Alström Syndrome. She applied on a Saturday night.
By 6:30 a.m. the following Sunday, the world leader of research for Alström emailed Johnston, stating “you’ve just listed every symptom we see in our little ones. You’ve come to the right place.”
The researcher sent Johnston a test kit and eight weeks later confirmed Johnston’s search was right. Bryce became the 708th child in medical history to be diagnosed with Alström Syndrome.
It was not a well-known disease, and had less than $100,000 in funding. Johnston pushed to create Alström Angels to help. The nonprofit has since raised awareness, funds, and worked to transform the community through events like the beeping Easter Egg Hunt.
Prior to the diagnosis, Johnston took Bryce to a playground. The then 2-year-old struggled, and they both left in tears.
“I would try to take her to the park, not knowing how limited her vision was, and she was struggling to get around on equipment, running into things, and if the wind was blowing, she was even more disoriented,” Johnston said. “We got into the car, she was crying, I was crying, and I was like, ‘we’re never going back to the park again.'”
Johnston met with a friend, who is also Bryce’s occupational therapist, over lunch and shared the struggle, along with her wish for a park Bryce could enjoy. This park would be indoors, safe from the overwhelming and overstimulating elements.
“She said, ‘it’s not just needed for kids with special needs, it’s for all kids. Every child needs an indoor place to play that is safe,'” Johnston said. “Our weather alone lends itself to needing an indoor place.”
That conversation in 2011 gave this dream park a name – Milestones. The idea got put on the backburner as the diagnosis and nonprofit began, but it never left Johnston’s mind.
In 2016, Johnston presented the idea to the nonprofit’s board, and they agreed it was needed. The city donated the land in McAlister Park, plans were being drawn, then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Supply chain issues compounded the delay.
Milestones Park will have been a dream of Johnston’s for 12 years by the time it opens its doors on Dec. 1, 2023.
Milestones Parks opens memberships, will offer daily play passes
People can purchase a daily play pass or a membership.
Memberships cost $39 a month for one child, and there are discounts for multiple children. Memberships will also offer 10% off for birthday parties. The first 50 membership holders will get to visit the park prior to opening day.
For one-day use, the passes are $13 per child, and there is no time limit, besides when Milestones closes for the day. Hours will be 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, and 1-6 p.m. on Sundays.
Once open, visitors will sign in with their child(ren) and stay with them, and adults are not allowed into the park without a child. If someone is there to pick up a child, one of the employees with find the adult the child came with and verify.
“We get a lot of those (safety) questions because of recent incidents that have happened in other places, unfortunately,” Johnston said.
Milestones is also in the process of building a scholarship fund for families that cannot afford the membership. People can help build the scholarship fund by donating at milestonespark.org.
“We doing want any kiddo to not be able to come in and play because of a socio-economic issue,” Johnston said. “So, we’re working on raising funds so everybody gets a chance.”
People can keep up with Milestones milestonespark.org, at Facebook, Instagram and X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
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