Reimagined Kids’ Quarters to feature accessible, multi-generational play

by Melissa Martin

Dec. 3 city council meeting

Brecksville City Council received its first peek at plans calling for a new layout and state-of-the-art play structures to be installed next year at the city’s Kids’ Quarters playground, located outside the city’s community center.

As part of her interactive presentation featuring renderings of the equipment being considered for the project, Jackie Jankowski, the landscape architect coordinating with the city, told council the focus is on improving handicapped accessibility throughout the park and ensuring the play structures are accommodating to children of all needs and abilities as well as adults.

When the city began exploring the project, which was launched in the summer of 2024, Engle said it was decided early on that new equipment would be purchased instead of restoring the existing play structures to ensure the equipment would last for two decades, possibly longer. 

“When we first sat down, they asked me what kind of playground we wanted to create in Brecksville and of course I told them, ‘the best one in Northeast Ohio,’” Engle said, noting that the city’s mission statement defines the project’s goal of creating a play space for children and adults, keeping in mind that everyone has different abilities when they play. “We really wanted to attract and engage as many ages as we could while also including inclusive play.”

In addition to exploring several community playgrounds throughout Northeast Ohio to see what attractions children were drawn to, the city hosted two public information sessions this past summer as part of which 81 individuals voted on items they wanted to see in Kids Quarters.

Engle said the city displayed 13 different project boards, all featuring several different items the playground could include based on the city’s budget.

Taking all votes into account, Engle said that out of the 13 boards presented, the city’s budget currently allows for more than 10 of the elements to be featured in the project.

“We felt pretty good about that number and taking into consideration their ideas and their wants because they were able to leave notes about any of their needs, wants and dislikes about the playground,” she said.

Among the equipment highest in demand, she said, are large slides and climbers that feature bright colors, as well as ziplines and structures designed for inclusive play.

“Anything kids could climb on or get going really, really fast on is what we picked up from our public meeting,” she added. “The kids wanted bigger, better slides. They really wanted to get some height. This is something that is getting really popular – having something that goes above 8 feet.”

Any time slides exceed 8 feet, however, Jankowski said the routes to get up to those slides must be completely enclosed and feature towers that reach slightly higher elevations.

As part of the revitalization project, Engle said, the city has expanded the playground’s play areas, reorganizing the entire footprint of Kids Quarters and offering different approaches to play within the Kids Quarters playground.

Plans now call for the entire park to be surrounded by a fence, which was “a big want” according to those who participated in the public meetings, Engle said. 

“We also gave everything an update for overall safer and more well-rounded play,” she said.

 As part of her master plan for the park, Jankowski used aerial photos to demonstrate access in and around the site currently and what the park will look like when it is complete. A handicapped-accessible path has been installed to the park from the city’s recreation center, and a new ramp and stairs provide easier access to the playground level.

“We’ve accomplished our first phase and [the service department] completed some surface renovations in an existing field to install pickleball courts nearby,” Jankowski said, noting that the first phase of work was completed this past fall.

Jankowski then provided council with its first look at the second-phase plans for the playground, which calls for the relocation of the city’s bocce ball courts. It also calls for several different types of swings for children and adults, including handicapped-accessible swings and a multi-generational swing that allows parents and other caregivers to swing with the child.

There will also be a large, central climbing area, a dual zipline featuring one accessible seat, along with a medium-sized structure that is wheelchair accessible and a cable-climbing unit.

“All of this is linked together with a series of walkways and is surrounded by an ornamental metal fence, similar to what we have on the ramp going up the hill,” Jankowski said, noting the fence will be gated at the far north and south ends of the playground. “This will give parents a much better ability to make sure their kids are all in one space. We want to make sure this is a safer space for families and make sure moms aren’t having heart attacks trying to take care of kids at different ages.”

Jankowski said plans call for the retention of the small shelter located by the old tot lot and the large shelter with the restrooms. She also noted there is a merry-go-round structure that prevents children from sliding under the equipment and enables children in wheelchairs to access the ride safely.

For the youngest children, the new playground will feature small houses and other structures to play in, as well as smaller slides and tunnels. 

Elsewhere in the park there will be a seesaw and five bays of swings, including a variety of belt and bucket-accessible swings.

“The old approach to handicapped accessibility on playgrounds was to put just a ramp in and get kids onto the playground unit, but we were not giving them much to do. So if they’re in a wheelchair they feel a little left out,” Jankowski said. “The design now has really approached the opportunities for kids to play in other ways – to play with some of the activity boards on the ground plane to get up into the play structures. It’s inviting more opportunities for inner play for people of different abilities, which we think is a much better approach to handicapped accessibility and inclusive play.”

Jankowski said the park will also feature turf play areas, as well as a swing fairly new to the market, called a viper rope swing. It is a 12-inch coconut cable swing that five to 10 children can be on at the same time. 

“These have been very popular in Europe for many years, and they have been adapted to safety standards in the U.S.,” she said, noting that the equipment is already located in playgrounds in Stow and Beachwood. “Adults love to play on these just as much as the kids.”

Jankowski, who said the park will also feature a cable spinner, which is a merry-go-round that rotates, said she continues to work with the city to refine the budget and make cuts wherever possible to include additional state-of-the-art attractions, including Rube Goldberg machines.

“If you are familiar with these machines, you know it takes a lot of steps to get to a very simple solution, but these really follow STEM principles,” she said. They allow kids to understand gravity, mechanics and maneuvering elements.

Still under consideration, she said, are musical instruments, gardening areas and kinetic wind sculptures.

“We really want the playground to shine with a lot of colors and, as you see it from the parking lot, allow you to draw up into that space,” she said. “So we have a lot of fun ideas for the entrance, but we wanted to focus our budget this year on getting the big elements in, getting the play structures in and meet the needs of the entire community.” Council authorized the city’s administration to move forward with bids for the purchase of the playground equipment. Installation costs are estimated at $220,000. Engle said the project is expected to be complete by mid to late summer.

photo caption: Kids Quarters will be renovated next summer to include new playground equipment that is not only handicapped accessible, but that also allows parents to better play with their children. Rendering submitted.