School in Novi, Mich., awarded $50,000 in inclusive playground equipment

Posted on October 12, 2012 by PlayLSI

We’re proud to announce that Thornton Creek Elementary School in Novi, Mich., was named the grand prize winner of the School Grounds. Playgrounds. Common Ground.™ essay contest! The school was awarded $50,000 in inclusive playground equipment from Landscape Structures to help them expand the inclusivity of the school environment to the playground.

Thornton Creek Elementary School has a mission to share the responsibility of creating a safe and positive environment that promotes self-esteem, mutual respect and optimum student learning, and each member of the school community is taught and understands that everyone learns at different rates, times and through different strategies. Because Thornton Creek takes students’ learning opportunities from the classroom to the playground, they realized that it, too, needed to be more inclusive to welcome the diverse population.

Runners-up were awarded $15,000 each in inclusive playground equipment from Landscape Structures. Runners-up included:

Utsalady Elementary School in Camano Island, Wash.
Lone Dell Elementary in Arnold, Mo.
Clyde F. Brown Elementary School in Millis, Mass.
James Whiteside Elementary in Richmond, British Columbia

The school playground contest was sponsored by Landscape Structures in partnership with the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) Foundation in an effort to bring inclusive playground environments to schools across North America. The NAESP Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the National Association of Elementary School Principals, a professional organization serving elementary and middle school principals and other education leaders throughout the U.S., Canada and overseas.

Miracle League of North Alabama celebrates complex opening

Posted on September 27, 2012 by PlayLSI

Last month, the Miracle League of North Alabama, located in Huntsville, celebrated the grand opening of its baseball complex at Braham Spring Park. The accessible baseball field is now ready for the 165 kids and adults with special needs who are signed up to play baseball this fall, plus the complex includes a truly inclusive playground and a one-of-a-kind concrete statue of Homer, the Miracle League’s mascot.

Miracle League logo in PebbleFlex® surfacing.

The grand opening event welcomed nearly 200 people from Huntsville and surrounding communities. People in attendance learned about the history of The Miracle League Association, the national organization that designs and constructs custom baseball fields for children with mental and/or physical challenges, from Executive Director Diane Alford. Additionally, the mayor of Huntsville, named and dedicated the field Johnny Franklin Field, after Johnny Franklin, North Alabama’s league director, the league developer for the national office and the driving force behind the project in Huntsville.

Inclusive PlayBooster® Vibe™ play structure with PebbleFlex safety surfacing.

We’re proud to say that we were involved in each main component of the baseball complex. The accessible baseball field was created using PebbleFlex® safety surfacing, which features custom color blends and graphics including the Miracle League logo. The inclusive playground features a PlayBooster® Vibe™ playstructure, and uses a variety of multi-sensory playground components like the Rollerslide, Cozy Dome®, OmniSpin® spinner and Oodle Swing®.

Homer, the Miracle League mascot, was custom designed out of concrete and hand-painted by Landscape Structures' artists.

The Miracle League mascot, Homer, constructed of concrete.

Unique to the Miracle League of North Alabama’s complex is the concrete statue of Homer. The statue, constructed of Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete (GFRC), is completely custom designed and was hand-painted by Landscape Structures’ artists. Homer is positioned behind home plate, and provides a distinctive photo opportunity for visitors to the baseball complex.

Collaborating to bring awareness to Sensory Processing Disorder

Posted on August 29, 2012 by PlayLSI

We recently began collaborating with the Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) Foundation and its sister organization, the STAR (Sensory Therapies and Research) Center, to help bring more awareness to the disorder, and help share the important work that the Foundation does to treat adults and children affected by SPD. Our collaboration has led to the creation of a sensory playground at STAR Center, which is helping move SPD therapy outdoors.

Playgrounds are an important part of children’s lives. They provide opportunities to play, learn and socialize. Because of this, the inclusive playground at STAR Center will be used as a therapy tool and this “natural” setting will be incorporated into children’s daily lives.

The STAR Center also focuses on parent education to help them understand SPD and intervention principles. Parents are coached to prepare for their child’s sensory needs, and families receive help to facilitate a “sensory lifestyle” for the whole family.

We’re excited about this new collaboration with the SPD Foundation and STAR Center, and look forward to learning more about how therapy in natural settings—especially playgrounds—helps treat children touched by the disorder.

Steve King Honored for Commitment to Inclusive Playground Design

Posted on May 3, 2012 by PlayLSI

Steve King was honored with the Visionary Leadership Award from Shane’s Inspiration, a nonprofit organization specializing in the design and educational programming of inclusive playgrounds, at their annual gala on April 21. King, the cofounder of Landscape Structures Inc., the Delano, Minn.-based commercial playground equipment manufacturer, was recognized for his commitment to providing inclusive playground equipment for children of all abilities as well as his philanthropic support of Shane’s Inspiration’s abilities awareness programs.

King, an American Society of Landscape Architecture Fellow, created a new type of play environment as his final project at Iowa State. After observing children at nearby playgrounds and the child development department on campus, he put together a concept that combined traditional playground equipment such as slides and climbers into an endless stream of connected activities, which he later termed “continuous play.”

Since that concept was introduced, King has continued to build upon it. He has committed his entire life to creating play spaces for children of all abilities. King was chairman of a task group of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) that worked with the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to update the ASTM F1487 Specification, a voluntary safety and accessibility standard for public playground equipment designed for children ages 2 to 12. His task group had the added responsibility of developing playground accessibility standards to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

In addition to his commitment to providing truly inclusive playground equipment, King was honored for his continued support of Shane’s Inspiration. King and his wife and cofounder of Landscape Structures, Barbara (1946-2008), met Catherine Curry-Williams and Tiffany Harris, cofounders of Shane’s Inspiration, more than 10 years ago. Since then, Shane’s Inspiration and Landscape Structures have partnered to design and install more than 30 inclusive playgrounds throughout the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Dreams becoming reality

Posted on April 2, 2012 by PlayLSI

Region 3 Winner: The Princess Alexa Foundation, Keller, Texas

The plans for Alexa’s Playground are coming along nicely. The playground designs are complete, and we are waiting to see the final layout with the colors. The grounds of Keller Sports Park have been leveled, and soon the space will be surveyed to determine accurate placement of the inclusive playground equipment. As we get closer to completion, we’re getting even more excited to see this dream of Alexa’s become a reality.

In addition to finalizing the playground designs and site plans, the Princess Alexa Foundation is working to secure funding. Recently, we were chosen as one of the beneficiaries of a local charity golf tournament. We are also working on a couple of grant proposals, and hope to connect with a local businessman who is influential within the community.

Setting forth on an incredible journey

Posted on March 9, 2012 by PlayLSI

Region 2 Winner: The FUNdation, South Elgin, Ill.

On Oct. 21, 2011, we marked the beginning of an incredible journey for FUNdation and the Village of South Elgin, Ill. We marked our celebration as the region 2 winner of the Together We Play™ contest by hosting a kickoff celebration at the location of our inclusive playground site. We held a community options planning session and invited many local community members to help us dream big! Great design ideas were shared by school administration, parents, Village administration, parks and recreation staff, teachers and committee members. In December, we received conceptual designs from Shane’s Inspiration and are on our way to completion.

Several of our committee members visited Landscape Structures in Delano, Minn., to take a tour of their production facility. Not only are the products produced by Landscape Structures of the highest quality, we learned so much about the culture of their business. And with the addition of their concrete manufacturing plant, nothing is impossible to create into play. We plan to include concrete products in our playground design.

Tiffany Harris and Brad Thornton from Shane’s Inspiration joined us on a cold, blizzard-filled evening in January as we reached out to our community members to gain support for this inclusive play project. After we shared our vision for inclusive play with those in attendance, we asked everyone to become ambassadors for this unique project. We have hosted two more open houses to educate community members, and we continue to research possible funding opportunities to help us meet our $1.1 million budget goal.

Officially under way

Posted on March 2, 2012 by PlayLSI

Region 1 Winner: City of Gig Harbor, Wash.

The design process for the inclusive playground at the Gig Harbor Maritime PlayZone is officially under way. Representatives from Landscape Structures and Shane’s Inspiration attended a design event, which was scheduled to brainstorm concepts for the playground. The new play space will be inclusive for children and adults of all abilities. Committee Chair Stephanie Payne said the group has now started its fundraising process and hopes to raise $100,000. After speaking at local Rotary clubs and organizations, she said, the group will start branching out to regional businesses and individual families for donations. The playground committee is expecting to see the conceptual design in eight to 12 weeks, with the complete design coming four weeks after that.

Making progress

Posted on February 6, 2012 by PlayLSI

Region 5 Winner: City of Lewiston, Maine

On Nov. 15, we had a press conference and extensive meetings with Shane’s Inspiration and Landscape Structures. Since then, we’ve had a stakeholder’s matrix meeting and have shared all our thoughts and ideas around a theme of “The River” to Shane’s Inspiration’s Landscape Architect Virginia Hatley. Because the City of Lewiston is focusing on developing its riverfront, this inclusive playground theme seems like it will fit perfectly into Marcotte Park. We are now waiting for Virginia’s rendering of the design.

Stay tuned for more updates from the City of Lewiston, as well as the grand prize and other regional winners.

Let kids be kids

Posted on November 15, 2011 by PlayLSI

The Princess Alexa Foundation, a volunteer run 501(c)(3) with a mission to celebrate the childhood spirit of seriously ill children through dress up and play, is the region three winner of the Together We Play™ essay contest. The Foundation, which is based in Keller, Texas, was developed by Alexa’s mom after Alexa lost her battle with cancer. Read the excerpt below to learn more about the drive to bring an inclusive (and pink!) playground to the community of Keller.

“In June 2008, a 4-year-old girl laid in a hospital bed. She had been battling cancer for more than two years and was stricken with her first, but extremely aggressive infection that had found its way into her lungs. Held down by the numerous tubes exiting her body, a smile erupted across her face at the thought of one thing… a pink playground. ‘Mommy?’

‘Yes, Alexa?’

‘I want to go to a park. A pink park. I want to go there when I get better.’

It was in that moment, sitting by her bedside in the hospital room that had been our home for so long, that I promised my little girl I would get her to that playground. Just hours after Alexa declared her desire, her body succumbed to the fatal infection and gave way to a coma. A week later, Alexa passed away in my arms as her father held us in his.

My daughter not only left me with the gift of her inspirational life, but also the drive to do something in her memory. I believe that children with debilitating conditions should be able to feel as close to normal as possible. Let kids be kids. And what do kids do best? They PLAY! I needed to help other children with unique circumstances like hers. It was like my pain was the fuel I needed to give my own life away in service. Alexa was going to get a playground of her own to share with all the friends she left behind, including the ones in wheelchairs.”

Tradition Meets Future

Aside

The region two winner of the Together We Play™ essay contest comes from South Elgin, Ill. The FUNdation, a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, works to improve the quality of life for the residents of the Village of South Elgin through the development, implementation, and funding of recreation, education, and conservation programs, services and facilities. Read the excerpt below to learn more about their need for inclusive playgrounds.

“Imagine an adolescent boy and father visiting a park together. Because of his special needs, the boy is unable to use the swings appropriate for his age, so they try to fit him into a toddler bucket swing. Now imagine the terror of the child and the anxiety of the father when the child becomes stuck in the swing requiring responders to cut him out. Unfortunately, this scene was not imagined. It recently happened at a park in the Village of South Elgin.

The FUNdation embraces the Village motto “Where Tradition Meets the Future” by employing our traditional values while addressing the future needs for our community. We envision the creation of a welcoming park that is inclusive of age, sensory and developmentally appropriate playground equipment and free of barriers for visitors with physical challenges.”

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Category Archives: Inclusive playgrounds