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Playground Renovation Project

The Holliday Park Foundation, in coordination with the City of Indianapolis, Indy Parks, and design team, REA, is seeking to add an exciting new playground and gathering space to Holliday Park. REA hosted a design workshop in February 2023, where they received an abundance of input from the community that inspired them to create two preliminary concepts. These concepts will guide the design as they create an inclusive, engaging, versatile, and vibrant commons.

Major Themes:

  • Reflect Holliday Park’s natural setting

  • Incorporate creative and imaginative play features and activities

  • Accomodate connected and dedicated age-appropriate play spaces

  • Increase awareness of and connectivity to other park areas

  • Create a pleasant, comfortable, and accessible visitor experience

  • Establish a signature, destination play experience and gathering space

Concept 1 – The Refuge

“The Refuge” design reflects the playground’s history while also looking to its future as a destination play experience unlike any other in the region. With a strong focus on creative/imaginative play, the Refuge has a prominent natural aesthetic to mirror its setting. 

Playground features identify several methods to enhance the visitor experience, including improved connectivity and wayfinding, more seating options and a central gathering space, and artwork throughout.

Concept 2 – The Habitat

“The Habitat” provides a variety of themed areas associated with Indiana and Holliday Park, specifically, to immerse children and families in a native-inspired play ecosystem. This design highlights a Blue Heron feature to provide a unique, desination play space with a matching layout that emphasizes the outdoor experience. 

As with Concept 1, the Habitat respects the history of the playground, its natural setting, and how it connects visitors with other areas of Holliday Park. It is a true re-imagining of what the playground could be, while also utilizing the exisiting trees and topography as elements of the design itself.

Both Concepts

If you’d like to see additional images and an overview of the workshop, click here to view the full presentation from REA.

Now that we have developed two potential concepts for the playground project, REA and the Playground Steering Committee will begin refining a final concept before moving forward to the schematic designing phase. The goal is to begin construction in 2025, more details to come!

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