Rapid City's Storybook Island Receives Acts of Excellence Award

Children of all abilities will have a new playground to explore next summer at Storybook Island located in Rapid City, SD. The children’s theme park received a $50,000 grant from the Black Hills Area Community Foundation to purchase its first all-abilities playground equipment.

Executive Director of Storybook Island, Jackie Laws, with members of the Black Hills Community Foundation and the South Dakota Hall of Fame

Six pieces of playground equipment will be installed by the time Storybook Island opens for its summer 2022 season. The equipment will be wheelchair accessible and include sensory panels for children with autism and Braille panels for children with vision impairments, according to Jackie Laws, Storybook Island Executive Director.

Laws said to her knowledge this will be the first entire all-abilities playground in Rapid City. The equipment is produced by Miracle, a company that specializes in manufacturing all-abilities playground pieces. “We’re super excited about it,” Laws said. “We want to keep expanding Storybook Island for future generations.”

Laws said the park has seen a growing need for inclusive play equipment. Making the park more accessible fulfills Storybook Island’s original mission when it was established in 1959 — to be a place where all children can play.

Since becoming the Executive Director of Storybook Island in 2021, she has also made it her mission to update playground equipment throughout the whole park that will be more inclusive. Some of this equipment includes a wheelchair-accessible train car for the popular Storybook Island train and a wheelchair-accessible sand digger.

To learn more about the Acts of Excellence Program, click here.