KENNER, La. (WVUE) – Tucked away in a Kenner neighborhood off West Esplanade Avenue, you’ll find a playground named after ninth-grader Anthony Fugarino.

Two years ago, Anthony’s Missing Pieces Playground brought new life to Miguez Park.

“I thought, playground? Yes. But that big? Not really,” Fugarino said.

Anthony’s aunt, Jefferson Parish Councilwoman Arita Bohannan, spearheaded the $600,000 effort.

“Seeing him play around other kids and not with other kids made me realize he has a chance to play, too,” Bohannan said. “That started the mission to build the playground here.”

Now, ground has been broken at Lafreniere Park for what would be the state’s largest inclusive playground, the $1 million Anthony’s Missing Pieces Playground.

Anthony’s family says doctors diagnosed him with autism at a young age.

“I never thought about a disability,” Fugarino said. “It’s a way of being different from others.”

Rebecca Connick, occupational therapist at Ripple Child Development, works with children on the autism spectrum. She says many children with the diagnosis, or with sensory needs, crave and love movement.

Walking through the 8,000-square-foot playset, Connick notices his sensor-rich space. The “Quiet Throat” catches his eye.

“They can come and it’s almost like a little hug, a solitary hug,” Connick said. “Sounds like there’s something dampening here. This can just be a really good space for a reset.”

She notices the patterned shadows cast on the ground as the sun rises.

“All kids, but especially a lot of kids with autism, find real comfort in predictability and concepts like patterns, math, letters, numbers,” Connick explained.

She says the playground is a clear example of inclusion.

“Having that built into a design is really special. And I’ve found that a lot of the kids I work with want to play and they want to play with their peers,” Connick said. “Sometimes they just don’t know how to do it.”

Bohannan says the playground isn’t just for people with autism.

“We have 1 in 13 people in Jefferson Parish who have some kind of disability: physical, social, anxiety,” the alderman said. “This will open the door for them to play.”

Bohannan first raised the money for the playground privately before he was on the parish council. Now, she hopes to make Anthony’s Missing Pieces Playground the new model for parish-wide renovation.

“Inclusion moves people in that way, removing some of their challenges and barriers,” Bohannan said.

Ground has already been broken at Lafreniere Park and is expected to be the largest in the state.

“If you’ve ever had a kid that didn’t make the team, you know that feeling, when your kid isn’t included,” Bohannan said. “This changes that for them.”

The million dollar playground should be open by next spring.

“It’s going to be amazing. I think everyone is going to like it,” Fugarino said.

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