Gordon Hartman saw his daughter excluded from the game and decided to build a barrier-free park
Gordon Hartman watched his daughter Morgan while trying to play and interact with other children. Morgan had special needs and that scene made him notice a concrete problem: many places dedicated to fun were open to everyone only in theory.
Spaces, attractions and activities often had not been designed thinking about people with disabilities. Even when access was possible, participating in the same experiences of others could become complicated.
Hartman started thinking about a different place. He did not want to create a separate area for children and adults with disabilities, but a space in which people with different needs could have fun together.
Morgan's Wonderland was born in San Antonio, Texas.
The park opened in 2010 and the difference from many existing structures was already in the initial project. It was not about taking a traditional park and editing it later to make it more accessible.
Accessibility had been planned from the beginning.
Attractions, routes and recreational areas were designed to be used by as many visitors as possible. The design takes into account different physical, sensory and cognitive needs, trying to eliminate obstacles that normally prevent some people from participating.
Even the jousts were thought with this criterion. The same happened on the paths, the spaces dedicated to the activities and, with the development of the structure, for the experiences related to the water.
The central point always remained the same: not to divide people into separate groups according to their capacity.
A child with a disability had to be able to share an activity with brothers, sisters, parents and friends, instead of being automatically directed towards a different space.
Over the years, Morgan's Wonderland became known outside the United States. Families from different countries reached San Antonio to visit a park built around a principle that, in 2010, was still uncommon in the sector: designing the experience starting from the different needs of visitors, instead of intervention only later.
Everything began by observing Morgan.
Hartman had seen how difficult it could be for his daughter to participate in a simple moment like playing with other children. From that experience he decided to address the problem in a concrete way.
He did not build a park reserved for people with disabilities. He built a place where disability should not be a reason to stay out of the game.
And he gave him the name of his daughter: Morgan's Wonderland.