The Edwin Watts Southwind Park, popularly known as Southwind Park, is an 80-acre (0.3 km²) park within the

Springfield Park District The Springfield Park District, established in 1900, is the public park authority serving the metropolitan area of Springfield in the U.S. state of Illinois. The Springfield park district, which is separate from the municipal government of the city ...

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

. It describes itself as a national model park for the demonstration of compliance with the

Americans with Disabilities Act The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA () is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ...

(ADA) in the provision of accessibilities to persons with disabilities.

Park features

The park features 2.5 miles of paved, wheelchair-accessible urban trails. The winding trails provide access to a series of fully accessible park amenities, including a ramped

tree house A tree house, tree fort or treeshed is a platform or building constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level. Tree houses can be used for recreation, work space, habitation, a han ...

, two ADA-compliant playgrounds, and three fishing piers. The music podium, ''Selvaggio Arches'', features an automated nightly sound-and-light show. The park's banquet hall, ''Erin's Pavilion'', is accessible to rent for special events. The nearest limited-highway access is Exit 90 on

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...

References

{{coord, 39.732, -89.656, type:landmark_region:US-IL, display=title Parks in Illinois Protected areas of Sangamon County, Illinois Tourist attractions in Springfield, Illinois