West Des Moines, IA
Home MenuRaccoon River Park Playground Replacement
UPDATE: 10/11/23
New inclusive playground is open and ready for fun at Raccoon River Park!
Parks and Recreation Director Ryan Penning said the replacement of the 20-year-old equipment gave staff an opportunity to be creative with the large footprint of the area to make this a unique and accessible playground.
“Hundreds of thousands of people visit Raccoon River Park annually and use the playground, so this is a significant project that will have a tremendous impact on our community for years to come,” Penning said. “This is our largest playground in our largest park, and we can’t wait for the community to once again be able to utilize it.”
Penning said work is now complete, and City of West Des Moines staff and elected officials are inviting the public to gather at the site for an official ribbon cutting on Saturday, October 14, at 1 p.m. that will be held in conjunction with the West Des Moines Chamber of Commerce Raccoon River Rally event.
Raccoon River Park Playground Design
The new inclusive playground provides more than 52,000 square feet of play equipment, seating areas, and landscape. Over 1,500 shrubs and perennials, and 40 trees, will allow children, adults and caregivers to experience the sensory aspects of plants as well as play amenities.
The playground design focuses on Universal Design which welcomes children and families of all abilities to learn, play, and grow together. All children are enabled to develop physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally. Pods of various types of play feature motion, swings, sensory, themed play, and climb & crawl. Each method of play has different means of access, allowing kids to scramble up hills or use sloping paths to reach the top.
The design team was led by Genus Landscape Architects and Ingrid Kanics, a specialist who focuses on Universal Design and sensory play in community play spaces.
Public Art
The playground will feature a new permanent piece of public art that is being commissioned by the West Des Moines Public Art Advisory Council. The 14’ wide by 8’ tall sensory wall will be inspired by the natural elements of the park and will feature tactile elements such as wood, cork, clay pebbles, and marbles.
Raccoon River Park Playground
Updated on 10/11/2023 2:21 PM
Raccoon River Park, located at 2500 Grand Avenue in West Des Moines, Iowa, was established in the late 1990s and has become the city’s most visible and highly used park. Park amenities include a 232-acre lake, beach, shelters, boathouse, archery facility, dog park, nature lodge, multi-use trail, fishing pier, softball and soccer complexes, and large playground. Raccoon River Park is heavily used by thousands of visitors each year. Because of this, the original playground equipment began to show signs of age and wear and came to the end of its useful life and was removed in the fall of 2022.
Planning for the playground replacement began in February of 2022 when the West Des Moines Parks and Recreation Department hired Genus Landscape Architects of Des Moines to design an inclusive playground. The Genus team, including Ingrid Kanics, an Occupational Therapist and owner of Kanics Inclusive Design Services, LLC., who focuses on Universal Design and Sensory Play in community play spaces, met many times with Parks and Recreation Department staff and Melissa Clarke-Wharff, co-owner of West Des Moines based, CanPlay. A public survey was also conducted to gather feedback from West Des Moines residents and regional visitors to Raccoon River Park. The final playground replacement design provided by Genus features improvements that will welcome children and families of all abilities to learn, play, and grow together. The playground will enable all children to develop physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally.
The playground includes specific play areas, which are: Motion, Central Play, Swings, Sensory, Themed Play, and Climb & Crawl. Benches, tables, soft landscaping, and shaded areas are also planned. Surfaces include colored rubber surfacing, colored playground grass, and PCC pavement.
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