PrairiePlay playground at Meadowbrook Park in Urbana is once again full of children and their caretakers.
PrairiePlay re-opened on Halloween after being under construction since the spring. What was once a wooden playground is now full of vibrant colors. Timothy Bartlett, the executive director of the Urbana Park District, said the new playground is designed to be more accessible.
“We really improved the level of access for all users,” Bartlett said. “It could be able-bodied, it might be people with cognitive challenges, any number of ways that we found to add more play.”
Some of the new playground designs include softer materials in falling zones, non-slip materials for wheelchair users and more benches and shade for caregivers. The park district designed the playground to also better accommodate the needs of caregivers, which Bartlett said is often left out at playground design.
“So creating ample shade areas, different types of seating, making sure that we have water at the site, good shade, things like that,” he said.
Another design in the new playground is an open concept, which is meant to make it easier for caretakers to see their children while they play. Urbana resident Barabara Lyon brought her grandson to PrairiePlay shortly after it reopened.
“This is much more open than the old structure used to be,” she said. “This is much better as far as supervision for our own children.”
When the old playground hosted its last day of play in February, some people were upset about the transition.
“With any change, often you’ll kind of maybe get some feedback that says, ‘Why did we change? I liked what we had,’” he said.
But Bartlett said he released a survey about the project that received more than 1,000 responses, many of which were in favor of renovating the old playground.
“By and large, most people were ready and excited to see something different,” he said.
Lyon said her family mourned the loss of the old playground because of the nostalgia attached to it. Despite this, she said she’s happy with the new one.
“This is much better for the community, and the fact that so many more kids can play, so many more adults can just come and sit and visit — it’s a good thing,” she said.