Who would have thought that the site of a former turpentine mill would one day elicit wows from local children? That's exactly what happened when the city of Zephyrhills, Florida, set out to transform a landmark of local history - and the surrounding natural forest - into a multifaceted, nature-inspired outdoor recreation destination for families called Hercules Park.

A Challenging Legacy
The land's story stretches back nearly 80 years. From 1946 to 1962, the Hercules Powder Company was a defining part of the local landscape. Nestled among the area's oaks and conifers, the company's mill and campus of residential buildings played a crucial role in the region's economic and cultural fabric. It was the largest employer in the area and offered housing to many, including local farmers and ranchers.

When the company shuttered in 1962, the site was transferred to the Pasco County School Board and repurposed as a community pool that served residents until the 1990s. Once it closed, the land sat idle. Recognizing the site's historical and potential significance, the city stepped in and purchased the land with the intent of developing a municipal park.

Turning A New Leaf
Zephyrhills had not built a new park in over 40 years, so while not traditionally known for its green spaces, the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) saw an opportunity to do something special. As Gail Hamilton of the CRA noted, the city "wanted to create a unique park that told the story of the Hercules workers and families but also created a gathering place for the community, where people would want to bring their kids and enjoy the sound of their laughter."

 
Planning for Hercules Park officially began in the mid-2010s, but progress was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding sources dried up, and in-person meetings were paused. Despite these setbacks, the health crises underscored something crucial: people needed accessible, open-air spaces more than ever. This realization reinforced the city's resolve to make Hercules Park a reality.

Kimley-Horn, a national landscape architecture firm, was tasked with bringing the city's vision to life. They created a comprehensive design for a multi-purpose park that embraced the region's natural topography while weaving in rich historical context. The result would be more than just a play space - it would be a living story, one that reflected the resilience of both nature and the community.

Environmental challenges didn't end with the pandemic, however. In 2024, while construction was underway, Hurricane Milton - one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Gulf of America - swept across the area. The hurricane's winds intensified into a tornado as they reached Zephyrhills, tearing through the partially completed park. Dozens of native trees were uprooted. Yet, in a stroke of luck, none of the park's structures were damaged. Construction crews resumed work after a 45-day delay, and the loss of trees only strengthened the team's commitment to resilience. The park's nature-based design now pays homage to the site's wooded past and reflects its ability to adapt and recover.

Persistence Pays Off
Today, the playground at Hercules Park is nestled among natural features and sits adjacent to a splash pad, an open playfield, and miles of walking and biking trails. The play equipment was manufactured by Landscape Structures Inc., a commercial playground company based in Delano, Minnesota.

The design of the playground is meant to replicate the qualities of its woodland home. A soaring tower, wobbly bridges, and rope climbing structures represent the tall, narrow trees, the flexible branches that stretch between them, and the challenging-yet-exhilarating feeling of clambering through the canopy of a forest. While the palette was originally imagined in warm browns, the team decided to instill pops of striking peacock blue to add a playful vividness. Recycled wood-grain panels on secondary structures blend seamlessly with the park's natural aesthetic, and glass-fiber reinforced concrete elements come alive as perfect replicas of fallen logs, hollow trees, or rock formations, all complete with hidden critters.

Because the city wanted to maintain the history of the land as much as possible, they kept some of the original Powder Company buildings - which now serve as shade pavilions - and they installed colorful panels detailing the area's history. The roofs of several of the playground's structures are crafted from white, corrugated materials that reflect the mill's architectural style.

No Stone Unturned
The Landscape Architects, working in collaboration with playground equipment supplier Rep Services, Inc., selected a 12-foot Super Netplex?(R) tower as the playground's focal point. The tower's impressive height mimics the vertical reach of the surrounding trees, while its internal web of cable netting offers a springy, tree-climbing sensation. The main landing inside the tower is enclosed by see-through screens, allowing sunlight to pour in like dappled light filtering through forest branches.

Similar to the way the trees of a native forest arc and bend toward one another, the spaces between play structures are spanned by a network of flexible bridges. Rubberized belting material on bridge floors creates an organic feel underfoot as children navigate from one area to the next. Three turf-covered berms emulate the rise and fall of the landscape and provide children with additional opportunities to explore the many levels of the playground by clambering up or rolling down a grassy hill.

Atop one of the rises is a GFRC balance beam resembling a fallen log. A custom Hill Net climber spans the four-foot elevation change, and a custom wood-grain Ribbon Walk climber takes a twisty path down and up again to an adjacent rise, where a thrilling trip down an Alpine?(R) slide or a tamer staircase descent return visitors to the ground level. A third turf hill invites preschool-aged children to safely explore at their own scale, with climbing hand grips for going up and a double slide for shared adventures on the way down.

A custom GFRC rock cavern, complete with embedded woodland critters, is a cozy hidden cave where kids can rest and experience the cool underside of the forest after exploring its thrilling canopy. Nearby, a custom GFRC Rock Arch offers a perch to play "King of the Hill" and observe the activity from a distance. Surrounding the playground are grassy areas where families can picnic, park strollers, or simply relax and enjoy the sights and sounds of children at play.

The Start of A Legacy
Since its grand opening in February 2025, Hercules Park has been buzzing with visitors exploring and enjoying the park as imagined 20 years earlier. "On opening day, if the kids entering the park did not say 'WOW!' then we had failed," said Hamilton. "And now the park is packed every day. And when I visit, I still hear the sound of 'WOW!' coming from kids - and that is success!"