The Caribou CommUNITY Playground will have an open house and ribbon-cutting July 16 at 1 p.m.

The park, which was initially planned to open June 15, is an all-access playground inspired by Brooklyn’s Playground in Pocatello.

The June 15 opening did not happen due to equipment delays. According to project co-coordinator Laura Lind, the company designing the playground, Leathers & Associates, has worked with the same manufacturer for 40 years. However, the manufacturing company was recently bought by another company, which Lind said has led to delays in the shipment of the playground equipment.

Currently, Lind said, the most critical equipment missing is the teeter-totter. However, Lind said the playground will open without the teeter-totter and the surfacing will be laid anyway, with wood being used to cover the exposed hole where the teeter-totter will eventually be placed.

The playground will use rubber surfacing, which is more expensive, but Lind said is necessary in order to make the playground truly all access.

According to Lind, a number of Soda Springs residents have expressed concern over the rubber surfacing, saying it is too expensive and unnecessary.

“Even if we just have one special needs kid, one’s enough,” Lind said. “But that rubber is not just for special needs kids, it’s for everyone.”

However, at least one child in Soda Springs would greatly benefit from the rubber surfacing, Lind siad.

Nine-year-old Aiden Carroll was born with a birth defect that caused him to have both his feet amputated at just 16 months old. He sometimes wears prosthetics, but when he does not he has to use a wheelchair.

Brenda Wyler, Aiden’s grandmother, said pushing the wheelchair across rough or uneven surfaces can be difficult and even dangerous, as Aiden has tipped and fallen out of his wheelchair before.

“I think what people need to do is come and push him around,” Wyler said. “Try to push a hundred-pound kid in a wheelchair through that kind of stuff, and it still would be inaccessible to him. I just really think people need to be able to come and watch firsthand.”

Wylder said she believes many people in Soda Springs become “complacent” about Aiden’s disability because he is very active, playing football, basketball, soccer and baseball.

“They think he’s done so many things that he can probably do everything that other children can without having a special place for him,” Wyler said. “But a lot of times at the other playground we have here, it’s just difficult for him to get onto the equipment. But with this new playground, he’s able to go in with his wheelchair and actually get onto a lot of the equipment.”

Lind said there was some concern about funding for the rubber surfacing, but the project recently received a $10,000 grant, and Leathers & Associates is arranging for a refund on the equipment due to the delays.

Further, she said the community interest toward the playground is growing.

Every time I go over there, people are just circling around,” Lind said. “We’re starting to see an actual excitement.”