Legacy Parks Foundation received a $20,000 multi-year grant from the REI Cooperative Action Fund (REI) that will help make Ijams Nature Center even more accessible to all users, Legacy Parks officials announced today.
The REI grant will fund the purchase of two adaptive wheelchairs and improvements to several of Ijams’ trails to ensure that they can accommodate these wheelchairs.
Ijams will manage a lending program out of its Visitor Center so that guests in need of mobility assistance can check out the adaptive wheelchairs. Legacy Parks owns two additional chairs that will be added to the program at Ijams. Two adult wheelchairs and one child wheelchair initially will be available for use free of charge, with an additional adult chair to be added in 2026.
“This is the ninth grant we’ve received from REI and all have funded greater access for all to the outdoors” said Carol Evans, Executive Director of Legacy Parks Foundation. “Allowing everyone to benefit from our incredible natural assets is a value that Legacy Parks, Ijams, and REI all share, and we know this work is appreciated by the community.”
“We’re incredibly grateful to partner with Legacy Parks Foundation and REI to increase access for people with mobility issues on even more of our trails,” Ijams CEO and President Amber Parker said. “We recently improved Serendipity Trail and areas around the Miller Building to make them more accessible. This new funding will improve the connectors from Mead’s Quarry to the Ijams Nature Playscape at Grayson Subaru Preserve and from Universal Trail to Will Skelton Greenway, as well as parts of Pink Marble Trail. I can’t wait to see more people able to access these areas, because nature is for everyone!”
The new adaptive trail improvements are part of Legacy Parks’ broader Access for All initiative, which is focused on creating adaptive trails in each quadrant of Knox County and expanding adaptive access along local waterways. Additional Access for All projects include Sharps Ridge Adaptive Trail, Dogwood Elementary Adaptive Trail, Concord Park Trails, Powell High Landing, and Cruze Landing.
To find more adaptive recreation locations and learn more about all parks and trails in our region visit the outdoor guide at legacyparks.org.