About Us

• Mission Statement: Crossroads Unity Family Park strives to enrich the quality of life for all citizens and encourage long-term community stability and growth through an inclusive atmosphere. The playground environment will serve the physical, social, sensory, cognitive and emotional needs of families of all abilities. This park is designed to provide an atmosphere of healing and bonding for families of our disabled veterans, whose sacrifices have improved the way of life for all citizens of The United States of America.

Crossroads Unity Family Park Project

Websters Dictionary:  Vision – the ability or an instance of great perception, especially of future developments.

Please imagine this: You may be one of the many parents whose child has a disability which occasionally limits them to play on some playgrounds.

Today’s remedy depends upon the American Disability Act (ADA) of 1990, which requires Public areas to address the needs of children with disabilities on their playgrounds.

Because of ADA, no longer do you have to worry about taking your disabled child to a play area that does not offer opportunities for them to have a healthy play experience.

 Now,  Imagine that “you”  are disabled.     You, as an adult, are disabled and dependent on a wheel chair, a walker or crutches.

Chances are, you will only be able to watch from the sidelines and many times, decide it to be easiest for you to just stay home.

Being a part of your child’s play experience in most circumstances would be a difficult task.

During the summer of 2013, a group of Catoosa County citizens met to brainstorm the possibility of helping them to spearhead a community campaign to plan and work to fund the construction and completion of an all inclusive family park for children and adults of all abilities. The driving forces were the desires of these committee members to especially focus on adults with disabilities, addressing their limitations and inabilities to play with their children on a playground because of their disability. Plans quickly got underway to speak with local government to request involvement in creating a public playground which would allow those adults the opportunity to be involved in play and complete interactions with their family members in a play environment. Also recognized was the focus towards the direct needs of disabled veterans and their desires to have play opportunities with their children, having no limitations relating to play equipment.

Our Playground Committee was approved to be reinstated to again, serve as a planning committee for the City of Ringgold.  Identical to “The Little General Family Park”,  Crossroads Park will be owned and maintained by the City of Ringgold.

The designated property is located in a relatively large area within the city limits of Ringgold, GA. Crossroads Unity Family Park fits into the plans of revitalization following the guidelines of the Ringgold City Council by locating this new play campus adjacent to The Little General Family and Children’s Park.

Plans for the all inclusive playground features the following items:

• Extra wide ramps to any elevated play area which would safely provide easy passage for 2 adult wheelchairs, thus creating extreme clearance for all other personal transport aids
• Solid soft/sturdy surface throughout the fall zones of the playground and hard/sturdy surface in all other areas, enabling easy traffic passage of all mobility equipment
• Sensory stations in the park will help with meeting the needs of cognitive development through tactile, auditory and visual experiences
• A design of a “Scavenger Hunt for History” will provide an entrance map of questions relating to the history of the North Georgia area dating back to the Woodland Indians 1000BC to 1000AD, progressing through each era of history through to the 1970’s. A network of barcodes will be  placed throughout the park which will allow persons to “hunt” for the answers (using their smart phone or wireless computer) to direct them to a website which will have individual webpages with historical information and illustrations relating to each timeline event. Thank you to our very special and local Historian, Bill Clark, who has provided us many historical facts to be used for this segment of the park.
• Adjacently,  The Little General Park offers a large outdoor pavilion with several small pavilions. Crossroads Park will offer several covered all accessible picnic tables.  Shaded seating areas will also be available for rest throughout.
• Several play stations will be all accessible and will create opportunities of social interaction for persons of all abilities.
• A custom design wheelchair swing is being created by “Gametime”, specifically for this park, which will provide an opportunity of the experience of “swinging”.
• The “special feature” of the playground will be centrally located in the park. It will be highlighted with an elevated custom “tree house” of substantial size. It will include oversized ramps. A large center room with a wrap around deck with safety railings will basically complete the simple and easily accessible design of the large structure. The inside area will include additional sensory stations and displays of historical facts. The treehouse will be available to serve as a station for various history and science/nature exhibits from time to time. Plans are for the treehouse to remain open during the hours of operation of the park, and not to be reserved for private individual functions, thus allowing it to always be available for public use during all operational hours of the park.
• The name for the park was approved as: Crossroads Unity Family Park For Persons of All Abilities
• “Unity” to recognize the motto of a park which would meet the needs of persons with all abilities, focusing on disabled veterans and other adult persons, enabling them the opportunity of play with their family/children in a play park atmosphere
• “Crossroads” was chosen to focus on the committee’s decision to recognize the importance of the diversity of the rich history of the area beginning in 1000BC. (The early settlers named the township “Crossroads” before it was officially incorporated as a city in 1847, being named after Samuel Ringgold who was a hero during the Mexican-American War.)
• “Family” was an important part of the park’s name to encourage its use by families, thus encouraging healthy cost-free opportunities to strengthen the unities of family structures through healthy environmental features and offering means of all directions in providing play richness and quality of healthy outdoor activities.

The committee recognizes the sacrifices (mental, emotional and physical) made by our veterans of all wars and wants to offer a safe place of healing and relaxation in an atmosphere that is conducive to their needs of healthy peaceful family enjoyment.                                                             

 This Park is Built in Memory of Corporal Troy Dyer, Representing and Honoring All Disabled Veterans

 The Story of Local Native, Marine Corporal Troy Dyer

• Corporal Dyer was a Vietnam Veteran who was injured twice during battle. His last injury resulted in the loss of both legs. He returned to the North Georgia area with an attitude of positive determination to continue living his life to its fullest ability. He went back to college to study business and worked for a short period of time with his degree in accounting. Not long into his new profession, he realized that his true happiness was to be outside. Before he left for Vietnam, he worked as a brick/stone mason, so after his attempt with the inside business world, he decided that was what he wanted to go back to. With much steadfastness and very little help, his masonry business grew quickly. He would have someone set up the scaffolding that was necessary for the platforms of any mason, but what was remarkable was that he would climb the frames, many times, carrying his own rock and mortar. To witness his talent was a remarkable experience. He never let his disability keep him from finding happiness. And he also loved to share his views of willpower with young and old alike. He would volunteer at The Children’s Hospital in Chattanooga, mentoring with young persons whose lives may have been altered due to an accident causing the loss of a limb. He would suggest ways for them to find their own paths to success. He would teach any wheelchair bound youth how to “pop wheelies”, which was always a big hit. His love of music also became a driving force in his life. He was involved in a local music hall, which later was named after him. Many locals enjoyed visiting “Troy’s Place” for a family friendly opportunity to enjoy local talents, including mini concerts by Troy Dyer. He was a very devoted husband and father to his family. We chose to dedicate the park to Corporal Troy Dyer, because his life example gave courage to others with disabilities to understand that you can never give up. The success of a disabled person’s life will always go as far as  they allow their determination to carry them.

  U.S. Marine Corporal Troy Dyer received the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnamese Service Medal with one Oak Leaf, the Vietnamese Campaign medal with a Devise, the Bronze Star Medal with a Combat “V”, three Purple Heart Medals, and a Combat Action Ribbon. Corporal Troy Dyer passed away on September 12, 2002.

There are approximately 18.6 million military veterans in the United States with roughly 4.9 million reporting some type of disability.

In closing, our playground committee hopes that future playgrounds will recognize the importance to focus on the needs of any and all adults with disabilities, offering them the opportunity to feel welcome and excited for this unique interaction with their children in a playground atmosphere. Additionally, we have a passion to create a space which will provide healthy outdoor access to our veterans of all wars, especially our disabled veterans, and their families.

Crossroads Unity Family Park Project

A Very Unique Park Plan      ALL  AGES * ALL  ABILITIES

crossroadsunity@gmail.com      Text or Call:  423-593-4773 or 423-313-2771