Glen Lake Elementary

Location: Minnetonka, MN
Surface System Used: PlayBound™ Poured-In-Place
Completion: July 2024

Overview

Glen Lake Elementary School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, has some amazing kids. Of the 460 students that attend, eight use a wheelchair. Wanting to make their school playground more inclusive for all, teacher Betsy Julien’s fifth grade class raised $300,000 to build a new one. The school selected a PlayBound™ Poured-In-Place safety surface for the new play area, because of Surface America’s high-quality standards, installation capacity, and ability to ensure the surface was safe and wheelchair accessible.

Key Challenges and Solutions

Although the original playground looked inclusive, since it featured a ramp and a couple of adaptive swings, it wasn’t. All that a student in a wheelchair could do was go on a little ramped section. Teachers would then have to carry students to other sections. Since Ms. Julien’s fifth grade class overlooked the playground, they witnessed these interactions. As a result, the kids wanted to create an adaptive playground, designed for use by all students at their school. To do this, the class raised money for a new 10,150-square-foot playground by cold-calling businesses and knocking on doors. They also held a coin drive at school.

The modern, innovative playground, installed by Flagship Recreation LLC, features a swing and merry-go-round provided by Landscape Structures Inc. The 2-layer system is comprised of a basemat made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) and polyurethane, and a top surface consisting of recycled post-industrial Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) rubber or TPV Granule and aromatic or aliphatic urethane binder. Surface America uses an industry-leading percentage of material in its top surface, significantly increasing the surface’s expected life.

Because the rubber and urethane components are mixed and applied on site, having school colors, logos, games, and/or geometric shapes permanently incorporated into the surface are practical options. The new playground features a mound and several graphics, including a track, and five different color mixes. The track looks like a mini road and navigates children through all the accessible play equipment.

This was a heart-warming project for Surface America to be a part of, because the fifth graders at Glen Lake Elementary are making the world a better place.