Park Circle Complex

Location: North Charleston, S.C.
Surface System Used: PlayBound™ Poured-In-Place and PlayBound™ TurfTop™ Prime
Completion: October 2023

OVERVIEW

The Park Circle Complex in North Charleston, S.C. features an inclusive baseball field, farmers market pavilion, community building, green space, and the world’s largest inclusive playground!

Completed in October 2023, Surface America is proud to have provided both the playground surfacing and the baseball field turf for this impressive project.

The playground project features 48,169 square feet of PlayBound Poured-In-Place, Surface America’s most widely-used safety playground surface, which comes with the industry’s longest warranty – 10 years. Its recycled material components are sourced from the U.S., and it has virtually unlimited design possibilities. The Park Circle playground surface features three different colors and accommodates seven different critical fall heights.

The goal of this playground is to welcome children and adults with all abilities to have a play experience where everyone can interact and play together to promote inclusivity. It accommodates children in wheelchairs and features “transfer stations” that allow caretakers to assist them in navigating platforms and slides. Double-sized sidewalks and ramps facilitate social interaction between individuals with and without disabilities. A wheelchair charging station is conveniently located next to games for children to enjoy while waiting.

The expansive playground features approximately 125 pieces of play equipment, which was supplied by Carolina Parks and Play LLC- Landscape Structures Inc., and includes the following play areas:

• Inclusive Kid Island
• Hedra Towers
• Super Netplex
• Quantis 8.2
• Zipkrooz
• Global Motion
• Double Oodle Swing
• Tot Spot
• Ninja Warrior Course

In addition to the playground, Surface America provided 55,335 square feet of PlayBound TurfTop Prime for the project’s baseball field, because of Surface America’s quality standards and installation capacity. The turf system was specially developed for Park Circle to maintain full inclusivity. It resists wear and tear from heavy foot traffic and looks like perfectly groomed grass. Wheelchairs and walking aids can negotiate on this surface without difficulty, so it conforms to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and ASTM F-1951 Determination of Playground Surface Accessibility.

KEY CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS

The expansive size of the Park Circle project made it unique and challenging. More than 22 trucks of surfacing material were delivered and staged before the project could begin. Surface America worked very closely with its distribution team and installation partner, Playground Safety Surface, to strategically schedule the loads to keep ample amounts of material at the site. This included having to work closely with the general contractor for the project to allow space for staging of all the materials.

As a result, this one-of-a-kind project exceeded expectations, and Surface America was excited to be a part of it. The entire Surface America team was proud to deliver this project on time and budget. The intentionally designed Park Circle inclusive playground and baseball field serve as a role model for other play areas of its kind, providing a space where children with various abilities, including Down syndrome, autism, and mobility difficulties, can play together.