An all-inclusive park in Mission will soon become a reality.

The park was first promised more than a year ago, but construction will finally begin this week. The Lion's Park renovation will accommodate people of all ages and special needs.

Viva Lopez and her mom Mary joined the city of Min celebrating the start of construction on the all-inclusive Lion's Park renovation.

"We feel included. That's what we were aiming for and that's what we're getting now," Mary said.

The project was at a standstill until now. The initials groundbreaking happened over a year and a half ago when the city of Mission was approved for funding from the Texas Parks and Wildlife.

The city says they planned to start work sooner, but the grant hit an unexpected delay on the federal level.

"A project of this size takes time, and so we don't want to rush into it, especially because we know how important this project is, and so I understand that it has taken some time, however, we'll get it done," Mission City Manager Randy Perez said.

This will be Mission's first all-inclusive park. The park has three phases.  Right now, they're starting on the first.

This phase comes with a $5 million price tag, $750,000 of which is coming from Texas Parks and Wildlife. The rest will be paid for by the city and donations from organizations like the Lion's Club.

The unique design of the park sets it apart from other inclusive parks in the Valley.

"Bank-shot basketball, an inclusive splash pad, over 10,000 square feet inclusive play area for two to five-year-olds and five to twelve year-olds. There's not a park in the Valley that encompasses all of that in one location," Excerplay Inclusive Play Specialist Marissa Pecina said.

Almost every element of the play area will be accessible to people regardless of their age and abilities.

"It's not just children in a walker, but there are children on the autism spectrum. We want to take into account their sensory needs. There's people that may navigate this area that are deaf, we want to make sure that there is signage, so children can communicate with each other on the playground," Pecina said.

Mary says this will give people like her daughter a safe place to play.

"We're very happy...we can't wait for it to be made. She is like ready to go. We're going to try everything," Mary said.

Phase One is expected to take less than a year to complete.