Almost one year ago, Accessible Play President Gary Behlmann believed that the ground for Angie’s Playground would be broken by the summer.

As of today, the ground in Manion Park remains unbroken and is still awaiting an accessible playground due to funding issues.

“We have a lot going on, and I guess this past year has been frustrating, as far as making progress,” he said. “I think the economy has a lot to do with it, and I think the economy will continue to have a lot to do with it.”

Angie’s Playground, named after Behlmann’s daughter Angie who passed away after struggling with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus, would be an all-inclusive playground not just for the Florissant area but for North St. Louis County. However, making the playground a reality has become the real complication.

Last year, the Florissant City Council passed an ordinance to show its support of Angie’s Playground being placed at Manion Park.

"I think it's a great project," said Ward 5 City Councilman Keith Schildroth. "It's kind of an underused park."

However, the organization has been unable to fundraise or garner any large financial supporters in the past year.

“In the economy, I’ve been told there’s a lot of necessities that people need, and they might consider this a luxury,” Behlmann said. “Of course, I don’t see it that way.”

In the past few years, two accessible playgrounds have opened in St. Charles County, Zachary’s Playground in Lake Saint Louis and Brendan’s Playground in O’Fallon.

According to a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article, private contributions, a grant from a St. Charles County agency and sales tax proceeds helped in the funding of Brendan’s Park.

Behlmann said the St. Louis County Productive Living Board doesn’t fund capital improvement projects, and grant applications have not panned out.

“The City of Florissant at this time does not have the money to help us fund our playground, and so we need to find it through grants, and that seems to be the place where there’s not a lot of money,” he said.

Ward 7 Councilwoman Karen McKay said that she has plans to turn that around.

“My position as a councilor is to appropriate money from the budget for the parks,” she said. McKay said she’s asked the council to consider setting aside $250,000 as seed money for the playground.

Despite the current hardships, Behlmann has not given up on his dream.

He said for this year, the organization has refocused and revitalized itself to gear up for more fundraising and more work.

The group has already planned its annual trivia night for March 24 at the John F. Kennedy Community Center.

“I see the last year with the playground as frustrating, but I’m not going to give up,” Behlmann said. “When I started three years ago, I probably should’ve known it was going to be frustrating, but that goal of having that playground there and the day that we grand open that playground is going to be an amazing thing.”