This extreme playground is the most important project we’ve ever designed and built. It’s a playground that’s also a memorial and a celebration of Joplin that we built as part of an Extreme Makeover: Home Edition episode.
Click here to take a tour of the playground.
Why did we build it?
This site used to be tennis courts and a playground, and it was the spot where a tornado peaked as an EF-5 tornado 12 years ago, devastating Joplin and this historic Cunningham Park.
Cunningham Park had been a destination for family celebrations and kids gathering for fun for generations. When we arrived 6 months after the tornado, there was nothing left, except for the tennis courts we had to dig through for the foundation of this playground. To say it was a lot of work would be an understatement.
However, the challenge of digging through rock and building this playground in less than a week was not even close to what the volunteers had experienced. Through our work, we tried our best to be respectful of the community’s history while also celebrating its strengths and tending to the heartbreak through its design.
What does the design show?
The playground design is based on historic and iconic Joplin architecture, including abstract representations and street names where devastation occurred, and shaped to form the date of the tornado from above.
My design intention was to represent the people and the town while honoring the memories of that day and providing a fun place for kids to create new memories with their families. Grown-ups can go there to reflect and grieve, while children are not burdened by the meaning.
We had two weeks to design and one week to build it with the help of talented carpenters and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition volunteers.
We are thinking about you today, Joplin. And we think about you a lot. ?
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