Children of all abilities will soon have a new place to play in Flower Mound, and local residents and businesses have a chance to make a lasting impression on the project.

Construction will begin on Fort Wildflower, a playground that is part of the new Heritage Park project, in mid-September, but fundraising is already underway.

Mary Kay Walker, a member of the Fort Wildflower steering committee, said the playground was planned to be a part of Heritage Park from the very beginning.

“When the master plan for Heritage Park was written, certain amenities were going to be in the park,” Walker said. “Part of the amenities for the park was this community playground...it is going to be an inclusive playground, which will have features for autistic children. It will have a separate tot area, and an area for older kids. It will have a special swing for handicapped children.

“It will have activity panels, a cistern, or water tower, with kind of a Western Fort type feel to it, and the really interesting thing about the project is that the kids have been so involved in it, from helping with the design, to telling us what they wanted. They have quite the imagination!”

It was actually the children to which the steering committee spoke that decided on the name “Fort Wildflower.”

Mayor Tom Hayden, State Representative Tan Parker and a number of other notable community leaders were on hand for a dunk tank fundraiser held at Independence Fest on Wednesday, and the Fort Wildflower steering committee is trying to sell bricks and pickets for the playground.

“The more money that we can raise, the more amenities we can add for special needs children,” Walker said. “Our goal is to continue to try to raise the bar on the amount of money we can raise, so that we can continue with the enhancements.”

Pickets are $50 each and the bricks are $100, and payments must be in by July 27.

“That's our real push,” Walker said. “So if there are people that that would like to have a memory or an honor or their name as part of the project, we would love to have them buy a brick or picket.”

The Fort Wildflower steering committee will also have a luncheon on Aug. 6 at Texas Roadhouse located at 3811 Long Prairie Road between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in which customers can get a barbecue sandwich, fries and a beverage for $5 dollars.

All proceeds go to Fort Wildflower.

Visit www.fortwildflower.com for more information or to make a contribution.