Wallingford Playfield equipment is scheduled to be replaced this Fall (and will be closed for a while while that happens) due to a termite infestation in the swings. While they’re replacing the swings, they’ll be replacing all the old equipment with metal equipment as well, presumably to avert future termite incursions.
It’s a $400,000 project, and the Parks Department is collecting feedback from park users on what they’d like to see replace the old equipment: something as close as possible to the existing, or take advantage of the change and go for something different?
In the hopes of putting my finger on the scales, I’ll make a plea for something open-ended. I see a few options on the survey along the lines of “Adventurous Theme: castle, dinosaur/fossil, ocean/ship, water”, “Learning/Play Panels” or even “Musical Play”.
I’m not a fan of this type of “here’s your game, ready made for you” playground installation. They’re great for a one shot afternoon of playing that particular fantasy or feature engagement, but if you head to the park every afternoon, you want something that invites different games each time, a neutral backdrop if you will. Kids will make rocks and sticks into dinosaurs, there’s no need to paint it in for them.
But everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and you’ve been invited to register yours at the Wallingford Playfield – Play Area Renovation Project Survey online.
I was part of the team (lead by Greg Flood) who put in that equipment. We started with design meetings at the library, with kids, for what the neighborhood wanted. It would be good to do that again.
#1 drainage and #2 lighting
#1, it might be only partially related, but that field is a mess in some months of the year due to water/mud/rain. I heard that there was a study once about drainage at this park and that it was essentially impossible? Jordan, do you have any information about this?
#2, lighting at the park kind of sucks at night. Anyone agree?
Based upon feedback on #1 and #2 above, I could write something to the parks department about this. Send me any feedback…
I wonder how much of the mud problem is dog owners bringing their pets onto the field and tearing up the grass, rather than using the designated dog area at Woodland Park?
As for the lighting, I actually kind of like it being dark (so much of the city is lit up) but can definitely understand that it’s a safety concern for others.
The survey requires to you to have an opinion on every option. If you reach out to Parks, please have them remove this requirement. Thanks, Matt!
Just returned to town and learned of this work. Ethan is correct, families should absolutely ask for a design process for the play area. It would not need to be as involved as the one from the 1990s that we held when the entire park was redesigned. The Parks budget of $400k is pretty much three times what volunteers spent in the 1990s to hire a consultant and create a master design for the park, build the garden area along the southern border (that the School District used for staging and replaced), and purchase the play equipment. The equipment itself was installed by community volunteers over the course of two weekends.
The information posted at the park appears a bit sparse, but understand that the current installation was built to comply with all safety codes and is already ADA accessible. Standards do change (one reason we were replacing the equipment installed 20 years before ours), so there may be new requirements.
I would also support Jordan’s position to keep the play area at Wallingford unique. We strove to build a play area that was freeform with a stage and ramps and areas above and below, not only to encourage imaginative play and steer away a little from the “station play” that has become so popular, but also to pay homage to the previous dinosaur of a timber structure that caused some parents to cringe, but that the kids simply loved to climb all over, inside and out.
There is, indeed, some rot at the base of the posts that have become buried in the wood chips. Volunteers used to regularly pull back the wood chips to keep them from packing around the posts, but that stopped shortly after 2012 when volunteer workparties at the park were discouraged by Parks. As many homeowners likely have learned, it is difficult to have earth/wood contact without heavy-duty preservatives that most would not wish to have in a play area (and we did not). The posts are lightly treated below the surface to be non-toxic, are solid fir, and most are mounted in a heavy-duty galvanized sleeves to allow drainage. However, the chips became compacted around the base of many posts. Parks maintenance tends to just “top-off” the chips, when needed, rather than pulling the chips away from the posts. Bad luck.
Good news is that much of the elevated play structure is mounted in sleeves embedded in the rubber play surface. The problem is likely what we ran into in the 1990s process – Parks will want to have a company “buy-off” on the liability for whatever equipment is installed, meaning that “repairs” will not be possible unless the original manufacturer is retained to do the work. A “hybrid” repair will likely not provide the liability protection that Parks will desire. Timberform, the manufacturer of the current equipment, may have a way to replace the vertical elements and still accept liability.
We were just a bunch of families that got together in the 1990s to design the park after Parks announced they were going to dismantle the old, well-loved, danger-mouse, structure, that truly did not meet safety standards as it was built over an asphalt surface. That structure, too, met standards at the time it was built, though. It may be that current residents may just wish to have Parks do the the work, which is fine, too. The budget is generous and would save a lot of time and volunteer hours.
Friends of Wallingford Playfield has a modest balance (originally intended to fund work parties ad infinitum) that could probably be used as seed money to help a new generation take on some much-needed and very rewarding work for their community. We had over 350 families at one time participating in the design and maintenance at the park. Our kids grew up. My youngest just graduated from UW this weekend.
I would love to hear from anyone interested in organizing a revival of energy and thoughtful design for our park. The goal would be to hand off leadership to a new generation who are more in touch with the needs and desires of young kids. I am happy to serve as a clearing house to get folks together if you wish to send me your contact information. The park is a wonderful community resource, well-loved, and a living room for the Wallingford community. As we used to say, “Help Make a Great Place, Even Better”.
I just returned to town and learned of this work. Ethan is correct, families should absolutely ask for a design process for the play area. It would not need to be as involved as the one from the 1990s that we held when the entire park was redesigned. The Parks budget of $400k is pretty much three times what volunteers spent in the 1990s to hire a consultant and create a master design for the park, build the garden area along the southern border (that the School District used for staging and replaced), and purchase the play equipment. The equipment itself was installed by community volunteers over the course of two weekends.
The information posted at the park appears a bit sparse, but understand that the current installation was built to comply with all safety codes and is already ADA accessible. Standards do change (one reason we were replacing the equipment installed 20 years before ours), so there may be new requirements.
I would also support Jordan’s position to keep the play area at Wallingford unique. We strove to build a play area that was freeform with a stage and ramps and areas above and below, not only to encourage imaginative play and steer away a little from the “station play” that has become so popular, but also to pay homage to the previous dinosaur of a timber structure that caused some parents to cringe, but that the kids simply loved to climb all over, inside and out.
There is, indeed, some rot at the base of the posts that have become buried in the wood chips. Volunteers used to regularly pull back the wood chips to keep them from packing around the posts, but that stopped shortly after 2012 when volunteer workparties at the park were discouraged by Parks. As many homeowners likely have learned, it is difficult to have earth/wood contact without heavy-duty preservatives that most would not wish to have in a play area (and we did not). The posts are lightly treated below the surface to be non-toxic, are solid fir, and most are mounted in a heavy-duty galvanized sleeves to allow drainage. However, the chips became compacted around the base of many posts. Parks maintenance tends to just “top-off” the chips, when needed, rather than pulling the chips away from the posts. Bad luck.
Good news is that much of the elevated play structure is mounted in sleeves embedded in the rubber play surface. The problem is likely what we ran into in the 1990s process – Parks will want to have a company “buy-off” on the liability for whatever equipment is installed, meaning that “repairs” will not be possible unless the original manufacturer is retained to do the work. A “hybrid” repair will likely not provide the liability protection that Parks will desire. Timberform, the manufacturer of the current equipment, may have a way to replace the vertical elements and still accept liability.
We were just a bunch of families that got together in the 1990s to design the park after Parks announced they were going to dismantle the old, well-loved, danger-mouse, structure, that truly did not meet safety standards as it was built over an asphalt surface. That structure, too, met standards at the time it was built, though. It may be that current residents may just wish to have Parks do the the work, which is fine, too. The budget is generous and would save a lot of time and volunteer hours.
Friends of Wallingford Playfield has a modest balance (originally intended to fund work parties ad infinitum) that could probably be used as seed money to help a new generation take on some much-needed and very rewarding work for their community. We had over 350 families at one time participating in the design and maintenance at the park. Our kids grew up. My youngest just graduated from UW this weekend.
I would love to hear from anyone interested in organizing a revival of energy and thoughtful design for our park. The goal would be to hand off leadership to a new generation who are more in touch with the needs and desires of young kids. I am happy to serve as a clearing house to get folks together if you wish to send me your contact information. The park is a wonderful community resource, well-loved, and a living room for the Wallingford community. As we used to say, “Help Make a Great Place, Even Better”.