County Executive Mark Hackel, Metroparks Acting Director Mike Reese, Huron Clinton Metropolitan Authority Commissioners and Administrators, AEW representatives, playground equipment manufacturer’s representatives, and a host of children all were on hand for the official Ribbon Cutting of the beautiful new facilities.
AEW’s Senior Project Manager Kyle Seidel, Graduate Engineer Brett McDonald and Graduate Architect Brandy Chirco comprised a team that collaborated with HCMA staff and commissioners responsible for the design of Lake St. Clair Metropark’s new ADA compliant playground. The more than 3.5 acre, $2,069,000 project included removal and replacement of existing play equipment, tennis and shuffleboard courts, and construction of pickle ball courts and open canopy structure, concession stand, perimeter site lighting and lighting of the tennis courts, and the introduction of adult fitness equipment.
Major requirements included visitor safety, including fall attenuation, maintenance requirements, cost effectiveness, and creating a design that incorporated on-site trees and preserved the existing perimeter boardwalk.
Key design considerations involved safety fall zones for play structures, ADA accessibility for all structures, site security, future planning of the parks and allowable number of elevated play components, playground configuration relative to ADA and non-ADA accessible restrooms, site seating and picnicking, drip-line of existing trees, emergency access routes, site maintenance and play surfaces.
The new playground equipment includes one play structure for children ages 2-5, two play structures for children 5-10, ADA compliant swings with bucket seats, independent playground pieces and a fitness area for adults.
New pickleball courts, a favorite with all ages, were also added to the play area.
The old shuffleboard courts were removed and replaced with new state-of-the-art courts.
Children on the playground gave smiles of approval.
The new playscape features bright and fun equipment for all ages to enjoy.
With Lake St. Clair in the background, the new playscape offers visual as well as physical enjoyment.
ADA compliant “bucket swings” help to make it safe and enjoyable for all children to enjoy a swing ride.
The colorful equipment, designed with safety and fun in mind, all includes fall attenuation surfaces to help protect those using it in case of a fall.
The adult fitness equipment, being demonstrated here by children who were in attendance during the Ribbon Cutting ceremonies, is designed to promote adult fitness during cardiovascular activities while also enjoying a view of Lake St. Clair.
The new concession stand features a drinking fountain/water bottle filling station to encourage the use of refillable bottles and reduce waste.
Founded in 1968, Anderson, Eckstein & Westrick (AEW) is a leading design firm providing civil engineering, architecture, geographic information systems (GIS) consulting and surveying services to municipal, institutional and private clients. We are committed to the enduring strength of our communities through innovation, value and engineering excellence.