An upgraded playground near Blythe Park Elementary School took a step closer to reality Oct. 15 when the Riverside District 96 board of education recommended the second of two design options presented by DLA Architects to the village of Riverside.
The second design option would expand the existing park footprint and accommodate up to 135 children ages 2-5 and 5-12, with a feel that’s unique compared with other school district playgrounds. That includes rock outcropping elements that are made of concrete, for example, and log climbers that replace steel posts.
“It’s made to feel like you’re in nature,” said Ryan Kelley, DLA Architects associate principal, who presented to the board that evening. “How can we make it feel more organic, sort of a hideaway in the trees?”
Kelley said the board’s design recommendation for the fully fenced playground will now go before several village entities in November – landscape advisory, parks and rec board, preservation commission and the village board, though the village itself does not have to approve the final design.
Board president Wesley Muirheid said the project would go out for bid after that, with a bid choice likely in January. That should allow the district to have a contractor in place do the installation in summer 2026.
“They have done some really neat designs,” Muirheid said of DLA, adding the second option was “atypical for us. We have more of that standard playground climbing equipment, my personal opinion. It kind of fits with the Blythe Park area.
“I hope the village and the other stakeholders really like it. My own kids and their friends (are like), ‘Let’s go to this playground, because they have this thing or that thing.”
The first design option was more traditional, Kelley said. It would rest in the existing footprint and would have a feel similar to playgrounds at Central, Ames and Hollywood elementary schools. It would also double the capacity of the existing playground to 125 students, about half the population of nearby Blythe Park elementary school. Superintendent Martha Ryan-Toye said that typically half of the school’s 250 children utilize the current playground during one lunch period, with the other half coming out over the second.
Kelley presented two renderings of the second option – one including a full fence, and another showing a partial fence that would seal off Blythe Road from wandering children and wayward balls.
The fence provided the impetus for discussion among board members.
“As a mom, when I’ve had young ones, I know that I’ve appreciated when playgrounds are fenced in,” said board member Salina Claps. “You can have your eyes off the children a little less when they are playing and relax. Obviously, I think we’re also a community of people who loves the idea of wide-open spaces.”
Fellow board member Dan Hunt liked the idea of a partial fence.
“Honestly, I think the older boys would be running outside that area anyway,” Hunt said. “I don’t know if that represents a safety problem or not. A large open space with a lot of trees, that’s where my son goes. That, and the tennis court.”
Ryan-Toye said the second option will meet many needs, both at Blythe Park school and for the community.
“It’s a little bit bigger, and it incorporates the kind of equipment we heard in our community engagement sessions,” she said.