Petition Started To Have Horsham Officials Install Fencing At 'Everybody's Playground'

HORSHAM, PA — Community members are circulating a petition online seeking to have township officials install safety fencing around a local children's play area.

The petition on the website Change.org has secured 474 out of the desired 500 signatures as of the time of the publication of this story on Tuesday morning.

Started by resident Amy Russell-Braccia, the petition asks Horsham Township parks and recreation workers to install fencing around Everybody's Playground, a local play space for children of all physical and cognitive abilities.

Russell-Braccia wrote that she started the petition after witnessing a young boy, possibly around 2 or 3 years old, walking alone up the sidewalk towards a nearby busy four-lane roadway.

There was no adult with the young child, she stated, and the boy "didn't speak and did not seem concerned he was alone or without a parent," Russell-Braccia wrote in her introduction to the petition.

Russell-Braccia stated that the boy allowed her to take him back to the playground to find his parent, and that the boy's father "approached me in a panic and thanked me for bringing him back."

She said the playground caters to all children, including those with special needs, and it would be beneficial to have fencing erected to help ensure the safety of all those who come to play at the space.

Everybody's Playground is a space dating back to 2003 located at Lukens Park on Dresher Road in Horsham Township.

According to information found online about the space, it was designed to be a universally accessible play area for all children, regardless of physical or mental capabilities.

The Commonwealth Foundation was an early sponsor of the play space, and the Horsham Rotary Club eventually embarked on a fundraising campaign that ultimately resulted in raising nearly $400,000 to help build the space, according to the online information.

Check out the petition on Change.org here.