City opens playground in Cascades Park

A new city playground at Cascades Park was born this week in a citywide effort to allow kids the freedom to act like kids.\nCommunity families often struggle to find child friendly and other safe places for their youngsters to run amok, but Bloomington has opened a new carnival-like playground complete with slides, swings and a giant rope pyramid. City of Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan, Parks Commissioner President Mary Catherine Carmichael, city of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department officials and community members of all ages held a two-hour ceremony Tuesday that involved more child-like celebration than ribbon-cutting politics.\n"Our goals were to have the community discover and rediscover Cascades Park, the first park in the city of Bloomington park system," said Mickk Renneisen, director of the city of Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department. "Cascades Park has for many years held fond memories and we needed a destination and attraction to bring a younger set of community members and families. What better way then to build a destination style playground?"\nThe Cascades Park playground includes five slides -- two that are 18 feet high - two plastic disc swings designed after the backyard-style tires hung from tree limbs, a typical swing set, a rope-climbing pyramid, a play area for younger children, a playhouse, rock chairs among other benches, several picnic tables and two canopy-covered areas for picnicking among other family dining areas. A boardwalk ramp is connected to the main play area so all types of disabled community members can access the slides, and the playground area includes pedestrian bridges to other park facilities, pedestrian walking zones, reduced speed limits and a myriad of safety features like wooden guardrails, limestone blocks to stop errant traffic, physical barriers to allow safe play and bonded rubber mats underneath the primary play areas to prevent and reduce injuries from falls from the apparatuses. \nRenneisen said the new play area was built from scratch at a cost of $917,368 as part of a five-year capital plan, and a significant portion of the 58 full-time and 300 seasonal Parks and Recreation Department staff helped construct the playground from design to landscaping, from customer service to hands-on building. \n"It's truly a team effort in this department, and we are only as good as the members of our team. I'm very proud of our team and the passion they have for their jobs," Renneisen said. "When you see your constituents, in this case the kids, smiling, utilizing the playground and enjoying themselves that is the ultimate in satisfaction and proof in the pudding. We hoped for that exact response: kids using the playground, families enjoying the facility, everyone taking time to be with each other and parents putting time aside to be in the moment with their kids."\nBloomington resident and grandparent Vicki Hargrave, who was spotted hand-in-hand with her three-year-old grandson Austin as they navigated their way along the staircase to the top of the 18-foot slides, said she loved Bloomington's new playground and thought the facility was "impressive." \n"I think Bloomington has the most wonderful parks and recreation department. This playground is just awesome and Austin really likes it," she said before escorting Austin back down the stairs because the slides seemed too high for the moment. "You can watch your kids play from the shade so you they're safe. I live in town nearby and it's great to buzz over here on a nice afternoon."\nThe Cascades playground also includes several built-in games to entertain children and adults like tic-tac-toe and a wooden box maze inside the main play area. According to city officials, Cascades Park was built in 1924 and the landscape provides visitors a small waterfall, a golf course, several barbecuing and picnicking areas among drinking fountains, public bathrooms and several walking trails.\nBloomington resident Kathy Wisley, who helped celebrate her four-year-old son Brayden's birthday Tuesday, said they also loved the new city playground and she was planning on hosting her son's official birthday there Saturday.\n"What is your favorite slide?" Kathy asked her son.\n"The orange one," Brayden said. \n"It's nice to just get him out of the house, let him climb to release all that energy and interact with other kids," Kathy said. "This is by far the biggest playground, but there are other nice parks in town."\nBloomington offers families and their children 27 playgrounds in 34 city parks, and Renneisen said the Parks and Recreation Department's goal is to replace or upgrade one play area per year until all the playgrounds are modified with more modern safety equipment and more creative playground attractions so kids can do more than just play.\nBloomington resident Julie Grindle, who was seated on a bench to observe her five-year-old son Tom climb the rope-climbing pyramid, said the new Cascades Park playground is a "welcome addition to our community."\n"It's got new and fun things for the kids to do and it's in a great location with lots of shady areas. A lot of people can be here at once doing lots of age-appropriate things," she said. "It's a great environment for families with kids of any age. It's a great place for people to get together to meet up."\nJulie then asked her son: "Do you have any friends here today?"\n"Yes, Henry," Tom said as he pointed across the playground to another child running amok with a parent-acting adult.\n"Kids are such a valuable part of our community. There are place were adults would rather be at and parks like this is where kids are welcome to play," Grindle said. "When you create public spaces for people specific for one age group, all age groups benefit. City officials and the University do a good job requiring and providing green spaces that are important to the growth of children."\nRenneisen said the Parks and Recreation Department is hoping to add a few bathroom facilities near the playground to satisfy any remaining community member needs. He said playtime is often a fundamental opportunity for children to learn how to get along with one another because they have to negotiate space and learn to share the playground facilities.\n"I think we learn more about ourselves when we play then any other time because we are free from many other stress factors in life and from other elements that block our creativity," Renneisen said. \n"When you are at play, that's when you are at your creative best. We all have to work and we work to enjoy our leisure time. Think about your own recreation: what do you learn about yourself"