It was an exciting day this summer when we finally broke ground on the hill slide--the second major project in our playground plan. Ever since we'd opened up the forest area for play we'd noticed the children were wearing a path up the steepest part of the hill. It seemed like the perfect place for a slide.
The playground committee spent months researching slides. We looked at various materials, fabrication methods, and pre-made equipment. The slope is 23 feet long--much longer than the average available slide--which made our search even more difficult. Finding a suitable slide was going to be expensive.
Then we met with Bob Walton of Ray Labbe and Sons Construction. Right from the start, his team brought a lot of creativity and enthusiasm to the project. We asked Bob if he had a solution to our problem and sure enough, he did: double-walled drainage pipe. The best part was that this option was tremendously durable and only a fraction of the cost of the other slide options.
The drainage pipe was cut in half lengthwise. Unfortunately, the cut edges of the pipe are too rough for safe play and need to be covered. Bob and his team came up with an ingenious solution--firehose! The hose was tacked onto the rough edges and provide a strong, durable covering.
A steep, fast slide calls for a soft landing. A frame filled with wood chips fits the bill.
Another important feature of the hill slide was the path up the hill. We wanted the path to be both accessible to special needs students and to lend itself to imaginative play. Sashie Misner, our landscape architect, incorporated a half-circle of boulders into the design. Ray Labbe and Sons had the perfect boulders and graciously donated them to our project.
In the future, we hope to enhance this area with sturdy plantings to help keep students from veering off the path and to prevent erosion.
So far, our slide has garnered rave reviews among the students and even a few adventurous parents. A huge thank you to Bob and everyone at Ray Labbe and Sons! We love our new slide!
