New Bainbridge Island playground accessible to all

Bainbridge Island is getting a beautiful new play area that is designed for kids of all development and ability levels.

KidsUp! The Next Generation of Play is an imaginative and inclusive playground at Battle Point Park. It has a huge ferry as its centerpiece.

The new Bainbridge Island playground will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 4. Events will include the official opening of the playground and a trike parade, in addition to music and food trucks.

That boat structure, named the M/V KidsUp, honors the ferries that serve Puget Sound communities, including Bainbridge Island. It is 47 feet long and has two levels. The playground also has killer whales to climb and a sandy play area with a hidden octopus sculpture.

The Trike Track winds through the center of the ferry. Also, there’s a Sound Garden of outdoor musical elements, and outdoor art artworks among the gardens of wildflowers and herbs.

Along with new swings, spinners and slides, several features of the original KidsUp! Playground were kept. Items remaining include the park’s signature “castle towers,” which now connect to the ferry at one end and an elevated walkway. This forms a continuous pathway around the play area.

Inclusion and safety are top priorities of the new design. All playground areas are accessible, and the surface below is soft to cushion falls.

The new facility was built by the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District, with fundraising run by the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation. (Major donors/sponsors listed here.)

The playground was designed by Chris Cain of Studio Hanson Roberts, with the parks department and an advisory group of parents.