Crews hand troweled design work into place, in some cases granule-by-granule, to make this custom Chace's Place logo at the Arizona Youth Rough Riders Ranch, located in Apache Junction, Arizona.
Photo Courtesy of FlexGround LLC

Chace Alderete, a 6-year old boy from Arizona was spirited, adventurous, kind-hearted and above all, enthusiastically caring. So, when in March 2013, Chace was tragically killed by a malfunctioning horse trailer at his favorite recreation facility, the local community was struck with grief. No stranger to child-oriented philanthropy, FlexGround, with the assistance of Dave Bang and Associates and local volunteers, pledged to build a playground in his honor. The playground was approved to be built at the site of the tragedy, the Arizona Youth Rough Riders ranch, a recreational facility where kids can learn to train horses, in Apache Junction, Arizona.

FlexGround's part was to install the rubberized safety surfacing underneath the playground, complete with a custom "Chace's Place" logo. Sub-base was prepped with a compacted aggregate base. The sub-base was hauled on site via skid-steers and compacted using plate compactors and hand-tampers. Recycled tire buffing and multi-colored 1-4mm thermoplastic vulcanized rubber comprised the safety surfacing. All rubberized surfacing of this nature is mixed on site in a standard mortar mixer and hand-troweled using flat and notched trowels.

The Dave Bang crew and volunteers shoveled in the final loads of wood chips used to flank the rubberized surfacing. All wood chips are shoveled or crated in and compacted before use.
Photo Courtesy of Dave Bang and Associates

Dave Bang and Associates provided the dual-slide playground equipment structure and swing set, and engineered wood fibers which flank the rubberized surfacing. Playground equipment of this nature is erected on site, by hand, in concrete footers and assembled using various hand tools and drill bits. Local volunteers, including the Rural Metro Fire Department, Greg Skelton of Scottsdale Unified School District, and various community outreach programs assisted with the manual operations.

Fundraising by the local community and volunteers for un-donated portions of the recreational area began in April 2013. FlexGround and Dave Bang and Associates had pledged their portions of the project by July, and construction began in October.