‘The sky is the limit’: Suburban park districts are taking playground redesigns to new heights

Goodbye creaky swings, scalding metal slide and rust-pocked monkey bars.

While most modern suburban park district playgrounds still feature the “big three” in recreational equipment, they often are a part of a larger, more elaborate play station featuring rope courses, climbing walls, zip lines or other brightly colored frolic-inducing accoutrements these days.

“For neighborhood parks, it seems like the sky is the limit,” said Bob Newport, a sales consultant for McHenry County-based playground equipment supplier Team Reil. “Everything now is going the inclusive route and how do we get all kids to play at an equal point.”

Inclusivity, accessibility and creativity are the newer buzz words when designing new, or redesigning existing, park district playgrounds, experts say. But safety and cost remain top of mind too, park district administrators acknowledge.

“Safety is the first-and-foremost evolution,” said Wheaton Park District Executive Director Michael Benard. “Standards were developed over the last 30 years based on injury statistics. Falls from equipment is one of the biggest concerns and why we install surfacing such as engineered wood fiber and unitary rubberized surfaces. These also provide better accessibility that allows our playgrounds to be more inclusive.”

And it’s also why playgrounds have moved away from the standard equipment of yesteryear.

“Part of that reason is safety,” Benard added. “Having enclosures and hoods keep kids from accidentally falling off the equipment. Better materials allow them to be more interesting and more challenging to the kids using them.”

Challenging playground users to think creatively about the equipment is why many modern fixtures have so many possible points of entry too.

“Kids today are constantly stimulated with electronics and so they are looking for something new and challenging physically,” said Sue DalMonte who operates playground equipment supplier Products4Parks in Lake in the Hills. “When there’s a planned path to use the equipment, they’re not really challenged and not taking much risk.”

Brian McKenna, the superintendent of parks in Rolling Meadows, agrees. When the park district there redesigned Countryside Park last year, they added a Quito Web Climber designed by Playworld, which resembles a giant ball of loosely bound yarn held in place by large pipes. There’s nothing that indicates the proper way to scale the 20-foot tall structure either.

“Kids that are 7 years on up, they want an opportunity for risk,” McKenna explained. “Not necessarily a risk to a bad outcome, but they want to challenge themselves mentally, physically and psychologically.”

Some modern playground equipment also incorporates a child’s electronic device into play. There are playgrounds outfitted with QR codes that kids can scan to show them a specific route through the play structures and challenge them to time themselves completing the course.

And there are parts of the modern playground intended for more passive uses, as well, which is all part of the inclusivity mindset.

Round Lake Area Park District officials are expected to open the massive $2.6 million Hero Park later this summer with something for everyone.

“That includes individuals with sensory issues that have a space where they could go and be quiet if they need it,” said Katie Gamroth, the district’s director.

Hero Park is waiting on the flooring to be complete, which requires several consecutive warm days. But once open, it will be one of the largest inclusive parks in the suburbs.

“The ultimate goal was to make sure it was inclusive for everyone and that anyone with any ability could use it,” Gamroth said.

The price tag for Hero Park was reduced somewhat by assistance from a local nonprofit group, but that’s not always available for other parks.

Rolling Meadows helped keep costs down when they redesigned Countryside by using in-house labor to install the equipment.

But park district administrators are keeping a close eye on costs when playgrounds are redesigned. Current economic conditions aren’t helping matters though.

“Prices do escalate,” Benard said. “We’ll see what happens with the recent changes made to products or materials coming from other countries. We pursue grants and utilize funds specifically levied for inclusion and accessibility.”

The life span of a suburban playground generally is 15 to 20 years, officials said.

District officials said they do take into account the demographics of a neighborhood when scheduling redesigns. They also encourage residents to reach out to them if they believe a playground space is in need of an upgrade or rebuild.

“Reach out to the park district and the park staff if there’s something that needs to be fixed,” Gamroth said. “We want to hear from the people that are utilizing our parks because we don’t always get to see it.”