By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — Final plans to remodel the Compo Beach playground were approved Wednesday by the Parks and Recreation Commission, emphasizing that accessibility is a priority for the new playscape.

Several pieces were added to the design to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act standards, including accessible swings, a rocking playground piece and other features. 

But one problem remained: How children in wheelchairs would be able to navigate the playground’s sandy surface to reach the specialized equipment.

The sand, a unique feature of the beach playground, creates accessibility problems for the disabled, and also requires more maintenance.

A new material providing easier playground access for children in wheelchairs has been used in New Zealand and Australia. 

Although the surface material has never been used in the U.S., it is under consideration for the renovated Compo playground. However, the material — a combination of layers of cement, rubber and plastic — has yet to be tested here, Joshua Sterling, a member of the Compo Beach Organizing Committee, told the commission’s online meeting. 

A representative of the manufacturer will travel to Westport in the next few weeks to work with the town to see if it’s possible to create accessible pathways over the Compo Beach sand, he said.

Sharuna Mahesh, the accessibility representative on the Compo Beach committee, said she was concerned that the redesign provides “accessible equipment with no way to get to it.

“How do we make sure that the accessible surface will go in, no matter what?” she asked.

Commission members decided to approve the final playground plan before the material could be tested, but with the caveat the new pieces of accessible equipment and accessible paths for wheelchairs must be part of the final design.

The Compo Beach playground remodeling plan is the 100-year anniversary project of the Westport Rotary Club, only the second time the playground has been updated since it was built 30 years ago. The last playground upgrade was in 2006.

In addition to adding accessible equipment, other goals set for the redesign include: creating more shade and seating within the playground, and improving sight lines for parents to monitor children at play, commission members agreed.

“This is an amazing, thoughtful job,” commission member Alec Stevens said of the project. “It’s really impressive.”

Other features of the project include purchasing several new pieces of equipment that can be used by more children than the older equipment. For example, the “RopeVenture Climber,” which allows many children to play on it at one time, will replace an older climbing piece that could be used only by one child at a time. And a new multidirectional swing that accommodates up to eight children will replace a single-use swing, Sterling said.

Other new equipment will include a music activity area with sound-making features, and a model ice cream truck for imaginative play. 

The color of the playground’s basic structure and toys will be “a kaleidoscope” of blues and light grays to mirror the beach environment, Sterling said.

Safety features include limiting access to the playground to one entrance and completely enclosing the play space.

The Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to vote on an 8-24 land-use application for the plan, a requirement for projects on municipal property, at its online meeting set for 7 p.m. Monday, May 20.

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.