The Awesome Spot Playground is a prime example of how Landscape Architects can impact society through all aspects of community-based advocacy, planning, design, and fundraising. Westwood Professional Services provided - and continues to provide, at no charge to the community - conceptual designs, complete

 
construction/permit drawings, budgeting services, sponsorship program development, magazine and other graphic design services, fundraising programs and event assistance, website development and management services, an email communication program, public outreach and advocacy presentations, grant writing services, construction management, and fund management services. This public/private partnership with the city of Modesto is designed to maximize the benefits of municipal resources, security, insurances, and funding with the ingenuity, fundraising capacity, skilled labor, and support building expertise found within the local community.

The project design brings research-based sensory integration as well as technologically advanced, socially inclusive, and physically accessible play to the heart of California's Central Valley. This playground exceeds "accessible" standards by eliminating social, physical, sensory, and cognitive barriers to play. Through promoting proper childhood development and intergenerational play, The Awesome Spot Playground will break down these barriers that traditionally keep children, siblings, adults, and grandparents from participating in play with each other.

Plants are chosen for low ratings on the Ogren's allergy scale, their ability to create shade, and their production of interesting loose materials such as seeds, pods, leaves, cones, and flowers. Walkways are designed with the absence of ramps and steep grades yet still provide access to high elevations. Every activity is accessible with graduating levels of difficulty to challenge and give opportunities for risk-taking in a safe environment. Social skills are honed by activities that promote, suggest, and even require two or more individuals to participate, such as raised water play decks, dual-seat riders, multi-user water pumps, spinners with multiple seats, and swings powered not by the individual themselves but by a companion rider. Cause-and-effect play is provided through interactive, computer-assisted activities such as a light-up sponsor board, embedded animal sounds, and car headlights. Interoceptive overload is moderated by ample shade, water features, food court areas, and a fully automated restroom that cleans itself, monitors its guests, and is equipped with disability cranes, half-height changing counters, and other disability-specific equipment.

The project goal is to bring a one-of-a-kind regional amenity to local families. Construction has begun and all infrastructure is complete. The team is currently fundraising another $4 million to complete construction.

As seen in LASN magazine, December 2025.