NORTHAMPTON — Accessibility efforts at Musante Beach are going swimmingly after the disability nonprofit Small Miracles in Life Exist (SMILE Mass) gifted the Parks and Recreation Department a new floating beach wheelchair.

SMILE Director of Operations Todd Civin joined Parks and Recreation Director Ann-Marie Moggio, beach staff and Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra to unveil the gift at Musante Beach Tuesday morning. As a man swam laps in the lake, he was invited to test out the new wheelchair.

“It speaks loudly about a municipality that makes accessibility part of who they are and what they do. It speaks of what good people you are because you think about people who are less fortunate than yourselves,” Civin said. “You’re going to get goosebumps the first time you see somebody use it and the joy that it brings them.”

The floating chair is specially designed to provide people with mobility challenges greater access to the beach and water. Northampton was selected as one of five New England communities to receive a floating beach wheelchair through the 2026 SMILE Mass Floating Beach Wheelchair Grant Program, which aims to expand disability-friendly features in parks and recreational areas around New England.

SMILE was created nearly 20 years ago when co-founders Lotte Diomede and Susan Brown raised about $600,000 to build and open the first fully accessible playground in Sudbury after Diomede grew frustrated that her son, who has a disability, could not enjoy the playground, Civin said.

Sciarra, expressing her excitement and gratitude for the gift, said she believed the addition to the beach would bring about positive momentum toward making the city’s recreational facilities more accessible for people with disabilities in the community.

“I love the idea that this is going to light a fire in folks to think about accessibility in different ways in recreation areas, and that this will just expand our access throughout Northampton and then throughout the region,” Sciarra said. “More people will get excited about projects like this.”

Moggio echoed the mayor’s remarks, adding that she had already begun to rethink the beach’s outline and how it could be made more navigable for those with mobility issues. She said that she had already discussed investing in accessible features at the beach such as Mobi-mats, or roll-up platforms used for wheelchair users to traverse sand and soft surfaces, as well as accessible picnic tables and pathways.

“We’re just super excited that it’s going to really open up accessibility here,” Moggio said. “We’ve already started thinking about different things that we could do that will be awesome for the community and bring more opportunities for people to swim here.”