The Center Of Attention

Joining nature and manufactured play elements to create a destination park

By Justin Bates and Nick Meyer
Photos: Centerville-Washington Park District

What is one of the most satisfying achievements for a park and rec professional? How about bringing joy and excitement to the community you serve? It’s even better when a project also improves the health and wellness of the community for years to come! The Centerville-Washington Park District (CWPD) in Ohio achieved this goal during the recent redevelopment of an outdated community park. One of the keystone projects was to create a playground design merging manufactured equipment with the natural elements of the surrounding environment.

CWPD’s mission is to deliver fun, healthy, and outstanding park experiences that connect the community with the outdoors. We strive to achieve this mission by updating park playgrounds to become unique destination spots within the community. Younger kids tend to identify a park by their playground experience; it could be a unique feature at the playground, their favorite slide, a spinner, or even the playground color. Accessibility is another factor in all park projects, and Field Park—centrally located within the community—became a good candidate for an all-accessible playground surface. These key elements led to planning a redevelopment of the 44-acre community park surrounded by a 194-acre nature park.

Assessing Wants And Funds
CWPD employees surveyed the community, explained project components, and identified community needs. The new playground was designed with all ages in mind. If two different playgrounds were constructed, parents wanted the ability to view both playgrounds simultaneously while their children played. Based upon proven research on the benefits of nature play to a child’s growth and development and the proximity of the playground to a large nature park, it was evident that a natural play area would be a vast improvement. CWPD decided it was most feasible to build one traditional, central playground and one playground for nature play at the same location within the park.

CWPD was fortunate to receive a Nature Works grant from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for the project. However, after receiving bids from representatives around the state, we realized the budget would not fund both playgrounds. We needed a new strategy. Moving forward, CWPD decided to allocate the majority of the grant-funded budget to the main playground design. The nature play area would be designed and built in-house by CWPD operations staff.

This provided an interesting challenge. How would we mesh natural elements with manufactured play? The answer was a design concept establishing elements that flowed from one feature to the other, while creating elements in each playground to mimic the other. The result was incredible.

Incorporating Essential Elements
We selected the manufactured portion of the playground to include an all-accessible turf safety surface. This surface has an artificial turf river “flowing” through it, leading into the nature play area. There are manufactured balance beams in one playground and natural-log balance beams made from fallen trees in the other. Rock formations make for many climbing features in the manufactured playground. We added natural boulders and rocks to the nature play area to incorporate climbing elements in both. There are sections of the manufactured playground where children can go inside and hide, so we built a log fort in the nature play area to provide them with a similar experience. The great thing about these hiding spots is that none of the places are truly hidden. They were all designed in a way that allows a parent to sit in the nearby shelter and still be able to see the children on either playground.

Many different sensory elements were researched and utilized when building both playgrounds. Musical elements were installed in the main playground for sound, and a dig pit with sand was installed in the nature play for touch. A Seek & Find was installed throughout the main playground. The Seek & Find features animals, insects, and fossils for an amazing added experience for the children.

Each of the nature play elements was placed outside the area to keep children within the play area while also making use of the natural shade of trees. The center of the nature play is completely open to allow children room to run and to have open space between the two playgrounds. CWPD installed many trees, shrubs, and landscape beds around both playgrounds. These provided a natural border for each playground and also unified the two spaces. Picnic tables, manufactured benches, and log benches were placed near, between, and inside the areas as well. Finally, we built a log archway to act as a gateway between the two playgrounds.

Unearthing A Gem
The Forest Field Park improvements have received fantastic feedback from the community. One recent Google review reads:

“A beautiful park I never knew was in my hometown. Very large, good parking, decent trails with a beautiful forested backdrop. The playground appeared to be really nice as well, and the whole park was bustling with activity.”

Facebook reviewers agree:

“Great play structure in a beautiful natural setting. Excellent park to visit!” “What a beautiful park! So many fun features for young explorers!” “SO impressed with design, layout, equipment, site engineering, acoustics, environmental context, bathrooms, parking, and location. THANK YOU, PARKS OPERATIONS STAFF! EXCELLENT WORK!”

Upon completion of the new play areas, the weekend shelter reservations at Forest Field Park increased by 220 percent! Families now see the park as a new destination for fun and excitement. The park reinvigorated the community with its unique blend of manufactured equipment and nature play. The experience leaves kids wanting more and encourages families to be outside and active in the community.

Justin Bates is an Operations Technician for the Centerville-Washington Park District, Centerville, Ohio. Reach him at jbates@cwpd.org.

Nick Meyer is a Planning and Project Manager for the Centerville-Washington Park District. Reach him at nmeyer@cwpd.org.