All-ability play center opens in Midtown Anchorage, partly with marijuana tax money

An outdoor play center built for children with disabilities has opened at the Alaska Jewish Campus in Midtown Anchorage, the first phase of a two-part project. The ribbon-cutting for the Alaska Friendship Circle All-Ability Early Childhood Play Center is at 5:30 pm Wednesday at 1117 E. 35th Ave., followed by open play and a family festival.

Phase one was paid for with a Community Innovation Grant from thread Alaska and the State of Alaska Child Care Program Office, a capital project grant from the Municipality of Anchorage Child Care and Early Education Fund, and the Barney and Rachel Gottstein Charitable Foundation.

Both of those public funding streams are recent. Anchorage voters approved Proposition 14 in 2023, dedicating municipal marijuana tax revenue to child care and early education, a fund the municipality estimated would deliver $5 million to $6 million a year. thread Alaska announced the same year that it would award $15 million statewide in child care grants in partnership with the state Child Care Program Office.

Phase two is an indoor center intended for winter and rainy days. The Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority recorded a $150,000 grant in March for adaptive indoor equipment, describing a space for children ages 15 months to 9 years with disabilities or behavioral health challenges, and a place of connection and support for their families.

Alaska Friendship Circle says on its website that it has raised $1.83 million toward a $4.2 million total project cost and plans the indoor center for 2027. Fundraising for that building continues.