The new McKinley Community Play Garden is an engaging and innovative nature play garden located adjacent to the McKinley Park Library, southwest of downtown Chicago, Illinois. The play garden is held in a land trust and is maintained and programmed by community residents.

Preserving the Space for Nature Play
The nature play project was initiated by community members that saw potential in an underutilized neighborhood arboretum. They approached NeighborSpace, a nonprofit land trust, which preserves and sustains greenspaces on behalf of community groups in Chicago. site design group, ltd. (site), working with NeighborSpace and the members, developed the master concept plan. While maintaining the existing mature trees and natural topography on the site, creative play elements were incorporated into the landscape in an effort to encourage interaction, play, and exploration with nature. The nature-based play features were then created and built on the spot by consultants from GRG Playscapes and design/build contractor Alex Enarson.
A unique aspect of this project involved using salvaged building materials, rubble and architectural details which were sourced from demolition sites within the McKinley Park neighborhood, helping to preserve something of the industrial heritage of the community.

 

The North Side
A new park entrance greets visitors with an arbor and custom signage. To the north, a repurposed shipping container serves as park storage, a "play-tainer," and gathering place. In the mud kitchen and build area, a miniature marketplace, and loose-parts storage area produce opportunities for creativity and imaginative play. Nearby, a crane rail was bent to create a curving track or trail, which leads visitors through a prairie maze to the shipwreck gravel pit with a wooden boat and other play amenities. A shipping crate was repurposed for play and is used on the track to get visitors to their destinations around the garden.

The South Side
On the south side of the site, a forest climbing zone has nests, as well as tree climbers and stump obstacles for adventurers. All of the existing trees were preserved, with minimal pruning done to ensure safety for climbing and play. Encircling the play garden is an accessible path with additional play features in the center. A central climbing structure serves as the main gathering point and play deck area and is surrounded by a lawn.
Nearby, a working runnel with a water pump is surrounded by outcropping and stump seating, as well as reclaimed building artifacts, organized in a rectangular pattern to create a ruin-like setting.

A True Community Space
The play garden was made possible through countless volunteer hours not only in the design phase but throughout construction, planting, and ongoing care of the site. The McKinley Community Play Garden has become a valued community resource for the surrounding area, a community with limited access to nature and open space. The success of the garden can be attributed in large part to the tremendous effort exhibited by NeighborSpace and the community in visioning, execution, and now stewarding the space for all.
Note: This project received a 2018 Honor Award from the Illinois Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.