Play City in Bay City
New playground with accessible features and equipment built in city park
BAY CITY – Situated near the Saginaw River, the deep blue and bright green colors of the new nature-themed “Play City” playground in Bay City’s Veterans Memorial Park make the circle-shaped destination a site that is hard to miss.
“This was the perfect spot for it,” Bay City Manager Dana Muscott said. “It is right in the middle of our City. When you drive over the Veterans Memorial bridge now, it is one of the first things you see.”
This newly finished playground is nestled between Liberty Harbor Marina and an existing pavilion at the park, surrounded by large trees, a picnic area, and nearby parking lot. The area is the home of a former playground that was torn down in 2015 due to safety concerns.
Since then, the City has been working with a volunteer committee and the Bay City Parks Division to acquire grant funding and develop a space for a new playground that would provide a place for children of all abilities to have fun.
“When the volunteer group first began this project, they recognized an accessible playground was something that Bay City did not have,” Muscott said. “They ran with it and for five years they never gave up on having this type of playground in our City.”
Former playground at Veterans Memorial Park in Bay City.
The playground committee and the City investigated other locations for the playground, such as Bigelow Park, but costly infrastructure needs prevented the project from moving forward.
Tim Botzau, the Parks and Environmental Affairs Manager for Bay City, said after construction bids came in over budget twice, the committee began searching for new project location possibilities.
“We looked at how we could get the best product, at the best cost, and in the best place,” Botzau said. “Veteran’s Memorial Park is our biggest park and had the infrastructure bones to make this project happen.”
3-D Renderings of the park provided by Sinclair Recreation, LLC, during the park planning process.
Ultimately, the committee chose the design submitted by Sinclair Recreation, LLC, a playground equipment contractor based in Holland.
Construction on the playground began in June and was substantially finished by the end of September.
The nature and waterways theme for the playground came from Sinclair, Spicer Group Project Manager Tanya Moore said. To incorporate it into the design, the safety surfacing resembles a river that meanders through the site, the large play structure resembles a ship with a small boat next to it, and there are nature prints, such as fish, leaves, and duck feet, throughout the site.
Ramping on the playground structure allows all the playground events to be accessible.
The universal accessibility for the playground equipment that was important to the playground committee was incorporated into nearly every structure that was built.
“The playground structure has ramping, so all the playground events are accessible,” Moore said. “The zipline has two different types of seats where one is geared more towards those with disabilities, just like the swings that were installed. It has ground-level components and elevated components that make it universally accessible, not just handicap accessible.”
The playground was made possible by not only funds from the City of Bay City, but also more than $350,000 in grants from the Bay Area Community Foundation and the Nickless Foundation.
After more than five years of work, Muscott said the wait on this project has been worth it.
“Spicer Group was our savior. This was a project that has been real rocky through the years,” Muscott said. “When we decided to go with Spicer, it was so smooth.”
“Now, I see families down there with kids that have probably never had the opportunity to go on playground equipment before because it wasn’t accessible. The smiles and the laughter that you hear from those children is something that I will never forget.”
“ The smiles and the laughter that you hear from those children is something that I will never forget. ”
