MyWHaT

Ideas like natural playscapes are why I’m serving on Traverse City’s parks and recreation commission. Traverse City’s parks are really undeserved. We have over 30 of them and I’m sure we’ve all passed by at least one of them and said, “wow, I never knew a park was there.” We don’t notice them because they tend to be open grass lots without much to draw us in except for someone mowing them.

I trust that we can do better; the bayfront design currently underway will be different.

Harness Water for Play

(Image provided by URS)

There has been a concerted effort, beginning with the Your Bay, Your Say, to not just design something out of the box. There is a still over a month left before the final designs are due from the consultant URS Engineering, but during the month of May there will be a series of public meetings to show the work up to this point.

There is a lot of things to like in the design and one of them is the inclusion of some natural playscapes. The image of the child at the right is an example of an element that may be included in the old zoo property. During the charrette, it was brought to the attention of the design team that an artesian well is located nearby. Currently, it is piped and discharged into the marina harbor. What a waste!

What if we could harness that water into a meandering creek that is accessible for children to play in and around? With the right design this element could serve as an educational piece, environmental improvement (water may need some cleaning), addition of a pleasant noise scape, a focal point and still allow for interaction with children and families. It would define the place.

You can download the bayfront plans (PDF), but to really understand what is being designed it’s best to attend one of the presentations during the next month. Dates, times and locations are available via the press release (PDF) and below. I’ll also be writing about the bayfront plans over the next month to highlight key features that I think show intentional design and the potential for something special.

The next public meeting is this Sunday May 16 at 4PM at the Kids Creek neighborhood Ass. meeting at building 50.

All meetings :

• May 16, 4 PM: Kids Creek Commons Neighborhood Association, Bld 50, GT Commons
• May 18, 7 PM: Recreational Authority, County Cmmn Room, Gov Center
• May 19, 7 PM: Planning Commission/Parks & Recreation, Cmmn Chambers, Gov Center
• May 20, 7 PM: Old Towne Neighborhood, St. Francis Church, 1025 S. Union
• May 21, 8 AM: DDA, Commission Chambers, Gov Center
• May 24, 12 Noon: Traverse City Kiwanis Club at Traverse City Elks Club, 625 Bay St.
• May 24, 7 PM: City Cmmn meeting, Commission Chambers, Gov Center

The concept above shows the creek flowing east through what's been offered as a possible new name for the zoo "the Con Foster Commons".

Oakland County's Waterford Oaks Park: much larger scale than what's being proposed for the bayfront, but how cool. Great description of the intention behind the park at the website.

NOTE: Still on vacation, but this post original published in May 2010 continues to get hits, so I thought today (July 7, 2011) I’d repost it to the front page as a sticky.

_

Thinking about playgrounds today, I visited Playscapes, a BLOG about playground design. The statements of intent in the right hand column of the website say it all:

• Because it’s difficult to find non-commercial playground information. And I find that frustrating.
• Because a playground doesn’t have to cost a million bucks and come in a box. In fact, it’s better if it doesn’t.
• Because playgrounds are under-recognized as an artistic medium.
• Because everybody loves a playground.

(Click for larger view photo by Ian MacPherson via Playscapes)

The main role of the site is finding images of interesting playgrounds and parks. Recently they ran this image of an interactive sculpture in Bondi Beach, Australia. Yes, this is a sculpture; but it also is a playground. It rotates when children push it.

It’s brilliant.

In particular, the collection of ideas at Playscapes under the category: ‘natural playgrounds and natural playground elements‘ is worth a perusal.

Here you’ll find a collection of inspiring play spaces, like a beaver lodge, amazing playhouses made out of sticks and, to prove it’s not that difficult, a massive rock can provide hours of exploration for the children in all of us. We need more equipment that is safe and let’s little people figure out how they want to engage.

I’ll be writing more about natural playscapes in the future. In the next post, I’ll talk about their inclusion in some of the current bayfront plan and there already is a local neighborhood interested in the concept for Clancy Park that I will highlight next week.

There is a little resistance by the city staff, so if you know anything about the natural playgrounds or are just interested in them, please send a short email to the parks and recreation commission, in care of the city manager. That could go a long way in showing that there is support for something a little different.

You can learn more about natural playscapes at:

• Earthplay: A company that helps communities plan, design and implement natural playgrounds
• Natural Playgrounds Company: another design business, with an excellent list of resources on the need and the how to help people reconnect with the natural environment.
• LandCurrent: Out of Eugene, OR, doing similar work and providing background like the two above. Their portfolio is worth a quick look.
• And, a search for Natural Playgrounds in Google images is sure to take up a chunk of your time.