AUSTIN, Texas — A local playground is getting statewide recognition.
Travis County's new all-abilities playground at Southeast Metropolitan Park just won the Texas Recreation and Park Society's Park Design Excellence Award.
The awards, which span various categories, highlight achievements in administration, management, programming, facility design, community engagement and more.
The playground was developed to meet the physical, visual, sensory, auditory and mental needs of all children – and it's mosasaur-themed! Mosasaurs were aquatic creatures that lived during prehistoric times.
Nearly 100 years ago, people discovered the bones of a mosasaur in Onion Creek, which is right next to where the park now stands. That fossil is now on display at the Texas Science & Natural History Museum.
The playground was funded by the Community Development Block Grant program and Transportation and Natural Resources Department.
Southeast Metro Park is located at 4511 Highway 71 and is open every day from 8 a.m. to dusk.