playcore projects of distinction

Strong Reach Playground - Bowdon, Georgia

Play & Park Structures was the manufacturer chosen by Jennifer Daniels of Bowdon, Georgia as she and her daughters began a community initiative that led to the creation of the universally accessible play space that they named the Strong Reach Playground. Through research, collaborative visioning, fundraising, and work with child therapists, the community in Bowdon created a 4,000 square foot playground that is 70% accessible to people of varying physical abilities. The play area includes sidewalks and ramps that allow children in wheelchairs to access the equipment and play alongside their peers. The Strong Reach Playground is featured in the 2008 Play & Park Structures catalog and was featured in the November 2007 issue of Recreation Management.

To learn more about Strong Reach, visit:
www.playandpark.com
www.strongreach.com
www.recmanagement.com

Hiding Spot Park - Yorkville, Illinois

GameTime and the United City of Yorkville, Illinois partnered to organize and execute a community build at Hiding Spot Park in August of 2007. Universally accessible, Hiding Spot Park features musically inspired benches, music notes on the structure's guard rails, and a musically themed shelter for protection from the elements. There are ample benches and spaces for parents to observe their children’s play and musical explorations! The kids who attended the build could hardly contain their excitement as they watched the new playground take shape. The build was a great success that passed the ultimate test of inspiring young people to get out and play!

Hiding Spot Park was recently awarded an Outstanding Facility & Parks Award by the Illinois Park & Recreation Association. This award honors public agencies for exhibiting "exceptional and unique acchievements in design and development." To learn more about Hiding Spot Park, visit www.gametime.com.

"Can-Do" Playground - Wilmington, Delaware

The Can-Do Playground is the first universally accessible public playground in Delaware, allowing children of all degrees of physical ability to play side by side. Play allows children to test their limits, develop mental and physical abilities, and participate in social interaction with peers, and universally accessible playgrounds allow children of diverse physical, social, and mental abilities to interact and learn from each other. This was the motivation behind Boundless Playgrounds® and GameTime’s “Can-Do Playground." 

The new playground was developed by six Wilmington-area Rotary clubs in partnership with Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Division of Parks and Recreation (DelDot) as well as numerous community leaders and organizations. The new playground includes a GameTime PowerScape play system complete with climbing walls, adaptive swing seats, and ground level play events and features GameTime’s exclusive Double Wide Ramps. The extra wide ramps allow children of all abilities to pass each other easily so play can be truly integrated.

GameTime is proud to be involved with projects that address the need for play and encourage everyone to get involved in their community. Participating in projects like “Can-Do,” developing universally accessible playground equipment, is one of many ways that GameTime is fostering a culture of inclusion.

For more information visit www.gametime.com or www.candoplayground.org. 

Diamondback Youth Complex – Phoenix, Arizona

TotTurf® by Robertson Industries partnered with the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team and the City of Phoenix, Arizona to develop two new baseball fields for children with disabilities at the Reach 11 Sports Complex in Northeast Phoenix. Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall was quoted at the August 2007 opening of the Complex saying, "we have been working on making this complex a reality for over two years now, and it is very exciting that it's coming to fruition…The opportunity for kids who experience a disability and those who do not, to play the game of baseball together, is priceless. This is definitely one of our proudest moments in team history."

According to the Arizona Diamondbacks, “the two regulation-sized Little League fields are named after D-backs players Brandon Webb and Chad Tracy. Each player donated funds to complete the project. The two adaptive fields are smaller in size than a regulation Little League field and the playing surface is made of TotTurf®, a rubber material that is conducive to wheelchair and walker use. The fields are named Rich Dozer Field (after former D-backs President Rich Dozer) and Partners Field (after the D-backs General Partnership ownership group) and are only the second and third disabled youth fields with the TotTurf surface in Arizona.” For more information about the Complex visit http://sportsnewssouthwest.com/major-league-baseball/diamondbacks-unveil-4-field-youth-complex-in-north-ph-2.html.