Hugh R. O’Donnell Elementary School

Location: East Boston, MA
Surface System Used: EverTop™ & PlayBound™ Poured-In-Place Systems
Completion: November 2024

Overview

Hugh R. O’Donnell Elementary School, located in the Eastie neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, is a small community school where most of the students are multilingual. O’Donnell Elementary wanted to create a 6,055-square-foot playground that was a safe outdoor space for its approximately 250 children in kindergarten 1 (preschool) through sixth grade. EverTop™ and a PlayBound™ Poured-In-Place systems were selected, because of Surface America’s high-quality standards and installation capacity.

Key Challenges and Solutions

The Boston Public School System educates more than 54,000 students in 125 schools, one of which is Hugh R. O’Donnell Elementary School. O’Donnell Elementary focuses on creating a high-quality education and a safe and welcoming environment for all students. This includes giving them a safe space to play outside at recess.

When the school decided to install a new playground, it specified M.E. O’Brien and Son’s- Landscape Structures Inc. for the playground equipment and PlaySafe Surfacing, who installed EverTop and a PlayBound Poured-in-Place systems.

The new playground surfacing features a basemat of 100% post-consumer recycled Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) and an EverTop surface, which consists of recycled post-industrial Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) rubber and polyurethane.

Because the rubber and urethane components were mixed and applied on-site, having school colors and geometric shapes permanently incorporated into the surface was easily accomplished. The playground surface at O’Donnell Elementary features three different color mixes – terra cotta, sky blue, and teal – in several circular patterns. The first color was laid out, and then the installers cut into the design and hand troweled the second color.

When used with an aliphatic urethane binder, EverTop comes with a 10-year warranty. When used with aromatic urethane binder, EverTop comes with a 7-year warranty.

The students at O’Donnell Elementary can now recreate in their new play space without fear of injury. The PlayBound system is IPEMA certified, meeting critical fall heights up to 13 feet per ASTM F-1292, and the surfacing is also ADA compliant per ASTM F-1952 for playground accessibility.