Local children with disabilities will soon have the opportunity to enjoy a fully accessible playground at Rochester Rotary Sunshine Campus.

Rochester Rotary broke ground on Aug. 23, 2019 on Shirley’s Playland, an accessible playground featuring an array of fun activities for campers. Playground amenities will include a slide and glider, a spinner, gravity cube, climbers, chin-up bars, ball toss, towers, a sign language panel and a sight and sound panel.

Shirley’s Playland is named for Shirley Isaac, past Rochester Rotary President Jim Isaac’s wife, who passed away in 2016. “Shirley absolutely adored children and she loved the Sunshine Camp,” said Jim Isaac, former CEO of Isaac Heating and Air Conditioning. “There could not be a more fitting tribute to Shirley than a fun, accessible playground for the campers.”

The playground is made possible by generous gifts from Jim Isaac and the Isaac family, Avangrid Foundation, Davenport-Hatch Foundation, Glover Krask foundation, Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation and Cornell Weinstein Family Foundation, as well as several Rochester Rotarians and families of campers.

“This playground is the latest attraction that will let kids with disabilities just be kids while at summer camp, with no barriers to fun,” said Patrick Stack, president of Rochester Rotary. “We are extremely grateful for the generosity of the Isaac family, Rochester Rotarians, area foundations, camper families and everyone that has made Shirley’s Playland possible.”

The project will be completed for use by campers this summer. A formal dedication will take place at the Sunshine Camp Carnival on July 17, 2019.