A year of design, public input and construction at Friends Park in Glencoe, Ill., led to the replacement of an old wooden play structure above a sand pit with new and accessible features, including a ramped play structure, net climber, swings and other amenities centered on a train trip theme.

Friends Park, at the corner of Vernon Avenue and Tudor Court in Glencoe, Ill., was renovated in the summer of 2013, and has become a highlight of downtown Glencoe for children of all ages and abilities. The playground had not seen significant improvements since 1996, and contained an aging wooden playground before work began.

Ben Kutscheid of RGC Design, a Plainfield, Ill.-based landscape architecture and playground design firm, led the playground renovation in partnership with the Glencoe Park District. Community input for the project included multiple public meetings, including meetings that invited feedback from children. The park district conducted interviews at several events, at which one-on-one questions and responses from residents were recorded. The city also conducted an online survey, which received more than 120 responses. Also, input from neighboring businesses and the local Writers Theater were incorporated into the final design.

The primary play structure (Playworld) includes a wide ramp that allows for wheelchair entry. The structure features slides, climbing elements and multiple observation decks above a bed of engineered wood fiber.

Over approximately six months, RGC Design completed several conceptual plans, and developed bid documents for play equipment and park construction. The company also prepared a cost estimate for the construction and ran the bid process, issuing addenda and reviewing bid results. The final bid price was within two percent of RGC Design's cost estimate.

Features
Four months of construction began with the removal of the aging wooden play structure and sand surfacing. Much of the existing stonework at the park was preserved and incorporated into the new design to minimize the impact on the budget, including limestone and flagstone paths. Additional concessions were made in the design to match and maintain an exposed aggregate curb.

The "Sway Fun" glider (left) is accessible from the ramped boat platform and accommodates up to two wheelchairs. The Glencoe park district worked with RGC Design to fashion a play area that would meet the needs of children of all ability levels.

The usable playground space increased from about 7,800 square feet to more than 10,000, and the park's sand surfacing, which survey respondents disliked, was cut from 100 percent of the play area to just two percent. Sight lines for parents, another issue discovered in the survey, were improved despite the addition of more play features.

The playground is loosely themed around a train trip, and features a train that "travels' past a large "downtown' composite play structure with ramps and slides (Playworld Systems). The train tracks lead past a boat at the water's edge (Landscape Structures) and sand, and finally a mountainous net climber (Kompan). The tracks for the train are cut into the surface to follow along the loop. Swings, a spinning "Supernova' structure and additional climbers fill out the play area.

The play area at the park increased from about 7,800 square feet to more than 10,000 square feet. The park's original sand surfacing, which was messy and limited access, was replaced with a mix of poured in place rubber safety surfacing and engineered wood fiber. The rubber surfacing provides access to the play features, and the wood fiber sits below the climbing structures.

Safety surfacing for the site was split between poured in place rubber and engineered wood fiber. The rubber surfacing was selected for heightened accessibility, and to bring additional color into the playground. Most of the features are accessible via the rubber surfacing, though some of the climbers sit above the wood fiber surfacing, which was incorporated to meet budget constraints.

ADA-accessible features added to the site include a sway fun glider, which can accommodate two wheelchairs; a ramped composite structure, accessible swing and sand digger, and rubber safety surfacing that connects the features provide entry and approachability for visiting children of all ability levels.

The train car play structures sit above tracks built into the safety surfacing, which travel past the park's new "mountain' net climber and "boat' platform (Landscape Structures).

When the park reopened in September 2013, city officials recognized the staff and volunteers that made the upgrades to Friends Park possible, and included a rededication to those responsible for the park's inception in 1995.

Local children were excited to gain access to the park, especially sisters Ari and Hayden Rosen, as the latter is restricted to a wheelchair. Six-year-old Ari couldn't wait to visit the park with her older sister, who could join her on the Friends Park's features and play structures for the first time.