Seattle's Child

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New Bainbridge Island playground

New Bainbridge Island playground has accessible fun, Northwest flavor

New, all-abilities play structure is centered around a huge ferry. It officially opens Sept. 4.

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.

New Bainbridge Island playground:

What: KidsUp! The Next Generation of Play

Where: Battle Point Park, 11299 Arrow Point Drive N.E., Bainbridge Island

When: Grand opening festivities Saturday, Sept. 4. Park dedication 10 a.m., Trike Track parade 10:30 a.m.

Also on Bainbridge: Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial adds a junior ranger program

 

More on the subject:

New, all-abilities play structure at Juanita Beach Park, Kirkland

Film about bullying makes mom even more grateful for inclusive play places

Artists at Play: awesome, inclusive playground at Seattle Center

 

 

About the Author

Julie Hanson

Julie Hanson is a longtime journalist, South King County resident and mom to a 15-year-old girl.