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Woodland Adventure Playground at the Minnesota Zoo
The Woodland Adventure Playground site, approximately 6,000 sq. ft., is adjacent to the central plaza of the Minnesota Zoo. The zoo is located in Apple Valley, a southern suburb of the Twin Cities, about 10 minutes south of the Mall of America. The zoo, which opened in May 1978, houses about 2,900 animals on 500 acres.
The central plaza is zoo?EUR??,,????'?????<
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A giant recluse spider waits to pounce on those who venture up the web (rope ladder) to the tree house.
The existing building directly behind the playground is for admin purposes and tiger holding. The next exhibit over on both sides of the playground is the zoo?EUR??,,????'?????<
Woodland Adventure Playground is really about getting children to be active in their play. The custom play features were designed and built to be fun, durable and ADA accessible.
The playground is loosely divided for two age ranges. Custom play features were designed for smaller children and fit their height level and play interests. Those features include the eagle?EUR??,,????'?????<
The bigger children spend time in the nine-foot diameter concrete themed tree, which they can climb to via a rope ladder. From the tree house they can cross a rope bridge and onto a to a replica of the Split Rock Lighthouse north of Duluth on Lake Superior. From the lighthouse they can slide down to a themed ?EUR??,,????'?????<
Just outside the Woodland Adventure Playground entrance is a 20-foot tall fountain and splash pad with golden bronze animal sculptures by Heath Satow. The overhead entry ?EUR??,,????'?????<
The entire play surface is a themed resilient rubber surface. On the pond is a real boat with a ?EUR??,,????'?????<
Additionally, the playground boasts the largest mosquito in Minnesota, which also happens to be a play feature.
Woodland Adventure Playground boasts the largest mosquito in Minnesota. Dashed lines in the surfacing represent the buzzing flight of the insect, which children can trace step-by-step. The staircase to the lighthouse is in the background.
Playground Design Each of the elements on the Woodland Adventure Playground has roots in Minnesota. The zoo?EUR??,,????'?????<
That meant oak, maple and elm, playground trees, and dogwood shrubs.
The northern Minnesota elements became a tree house, a dock with boat, a fire ranger tower, an eagle?EUR??,,????'?????<
The Play The Woodland Adventure Playground excites the imaginations of all kinds of kids as they each play differently as individuals or as a group. Functional or purposeful play encourages gross-motor skills like climbing, running, balancing and jumping. This occurs when toddlers and the older children move about from element to element.
Group play involves cooperation and may include social play with a set of rules, challenges or games. Children in the fishing boat repeatedly coach the driver of the boat about how fast they are going. Dramatic play or pretend play is when kids jump into creating situations or settings that may not be based on reality. The best example of this is when toddlers sit among the eagle nest eggs and pretend that they have just hatched and the birds ready to take flight.
About the Firm Damon Farber Associates does landscape architecture, community planning, site design and urban planning. The firm concentrates on planning and design of exterior spaces as they relate to circulation, maintenance, function, spatial organization and historical precedence.
Damon Farber Associates has been providing landscape architectural services to the Minnesota Zoo for nearly 35 years. Damon Farber himself participated on the original zoo design and layout while with InterDesign of Minneapolis. Since that time, the firm has designed a multitude of exhibit and nonexhibit projects for the Minnesota Zoo and smaller zoos in Minnesota like the Lake Superior Zoo and the Redwood Falls Zoo.
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Project Team Owner Representative, Project Manager Kevin Henderson, Minnesota Zoo Landscape Architect, Project Manager Matt Wilkens, ASLA Damon Farber Associates Minneapolis Structural Engineer, Project Manager Ken Green, P.E. (MN) LEED AP Mattson Macdonald Young, Inc., Minneapolis Theming Contractor (structures), Project Manager Kevin Henderson, Minnesota Zoo Theming Contractor (structures), Project Manager Ole Nasvik, President ThemeScapes, Inc. Forest Lake, Minn. Theming Contractor (play elements), Project Manager Hart Johnson, Vice President TIVOLITOO, Inc. - Design, Sculpting, Development of 3D Stuff Mendota Heights, Minn. Rope Bridge, Rope Climber, Spider Web, Oriole?EUR??,,????'?????< International Cordage, Inc., Phoenix, Ariz. Resilient Surfacing International Mulch Co., Bridgeton, Mo.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
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