Posted Feb. 15, 2023

While I was studying Architecture at Kent State University in 1969, it seems like every project I developed snuck a play space into it. Even a church design had a waterfall and 3D play space as the focal point. I finally realized I would never be happy designing government buildings and corporate centers. I changed my major. But that sense of play remained in my heart.

Life happened – wife, kids, business. I loved it! No regrets. Kids are gone, business was changing. I found time to make heirloom quality wooden toys. Parents loved them, but then they would say “I wish there was someplace I could take my kids that was like when I was growing up!” We would talk. It always came back to running in the fields, climbing trees, discovering bugs under rocks at the edge of a pond. I knew what they meant – I grew up that way.

After my last art festival in 2019, after the chaos of Christmas, my wife and I looked at each other and said “Now what?.... Let’s build that place! ” We started brainstorming play ideas, watched every video we could find about playgrounds around the world. Spent days searching play related websites. Looked at dozens of playground equipment websites. We were obsessed with trying to find the magic in play for a child. We made a list. Different zones for different ages (their needs and challenges are dramatically different). What areas could overlap? How could the space flow? Since we are semi-retired, we put ideas together every day – threw out ideas that were only entertainment and not challenging/interactive. This is not your neighborhood playground. This park is born of imagination, passion and love.

A very wet spring arrived. The pandemic was announced. We didn’t care. There was work to be done. Take down a hundred dead ash trees. Blaze a path through an overgrown woods for the railroad track. Dig the pond. Build the tunnels. Level a central area for play vehicles.

Finally the pandemic eased in the fall of 2021 and a thousand kids began showing up to try this new type of playground. We watched the kids play – what did they like, what wasn’t working. More brainstorming, more construction. The park will always be changing – hopefully in wonderful ways. Join the fun at Discovery Park Ohio!