The Marquette Playgrounds for All Committee welcomes you to the dream…
History of the Beloved Kids Cove
Kids Cove located in Mattson Park was an outstanding community endeavor completed in the summer of 1996. A community came out with hammers in hand to lend their talents in building a playground for and by them. Since its conception, it had been a fixture for the Marquette community and had been a great gathering place for families.
Why did we need a new Kids Cove?
With safety, inclusion, and fun being top priorities, the Marquette Playgrounds for All Committee, the Community Foundation of Marquette County, and the City of Marquette invited the community to the creation of a new playground made of child-friendly material and equipment. The playground’s surface minimizes injuries that result from falls. The equipment allows easier sight of vision for grandparents, parents, and caregivers. It allows children with various abilities to play and learn together. Kids Cove II enhances the park, brings visitors from throughout Upper Michigan, and is good for the economy of the city of Marquette.
After thousands of children have climbed its towers and slid down its slides, the existing playground at Mattson Park was outdated and filled with equipment that needed to be replaced because:
The original was 25 + years old, outdated, and filled with equipment that needed to be replaced.
Core structural components were showing their age and a failure with one of these would have required the whole structure to be removed.
Replacing the structure with materials that met today’s standards was needed in the best interest of our community’s health and safety.
In 2003, the EPA banned the future use of the type of treated lumber used in the original construction.
A DREAM to Build a New ALL-INCLUSIVE Kids Cove Playground
The dream began with Joani Reynolds Miller, who had contracted polio as a child. A retired preschool teacher, she had watched children with physical, emotional, and sensory challenges be mere observers at our traditional playgrounds. She had a vision of making life for children with disabilities more inclusive in our community.
Joani’s positive spirit and love of life were an inspiration for all who knew her.
The details of the future Kids Cove plan included participatory community planning and input. The Marquette Playgrounds for All Committee, the Community Foundation of Marquette County, and the City of Marquette set high standards and goals from which specific ideas grew. The playground was built so it is simple to use, understandable, and safer for all users. Kids Cove II was built with an ALL-INCLUSIVE design. That means it will work for the widest spectrum of users!
Why all-inclusive? Because we ALL learn through play.
Play is our first introduction to the world around us. We all learn through play. Play helps us understand the world. Play helps us become healthy emotionally and physically. Children playing are stimulating their developing brains, strengthening motor skills, building awareness of others, learning language skills, creative thinking, building self-esteem, and problem-solving. ALL-INCLUSIVE play provides children with special needs and typically developing children the opportunity to experience the world through multiple lenses.
Our children with special needs (over 1600 in Marquette County) have unique challenges with their disabilities frequently making them observers at the playgrounds in our area.
What makes this playground different?
The playground’s surface not only minimizes injuries, but allows accessibility for all.
The equipment allows a better line of vision for grandparents, parents, and caregivers.
The equipment allows access for all.
The fenced perimeter has only one entrance and exit.
Kids Cove II allows children with various abilities to play and learn together.
This playground builds togetherness, understanding, and respect that children of all abilities would not achieve if separated. Playing together exposes differences while demonstrating the similarities that they all share. It should be emphasized that the Kids Cove II Playground is also meant for the typically developing child. These children will find the playground exciting and challenging. In other words, this playground is not just for children with disabilities, but is for ALL kids.
Eight Play Zones within Kids Cove Playground
Our Play Zones are a collection of carefully chosen equipment around a play and developmental theme. Children of all abilities can play together, laugh together and grow healthy... together.
Toddler Zone
Quiet Zone
Proprioceptive Zone
Spinning Zone
Swing Zone
Climbing Zone
Music/Free Play Zone
Hill Zone
Kids Cove II, a Dream with Goals
Project goals and long-term benefits to the community include:
Providing a needed play/exercise opportunity for ALL children
Providing a barrier-free, recreational opportunity for children that adult caretakers can navigate easily.
Enhancing the artistic and educational opportunities at Mattson Park
Providing an additional attraction to the already popular Mattson Park for the community and creating a destination attraction for visitors.
The Path to the Playground Design
The planning for the playground included public forums with ideas from the entire community which included children in its initial process. Based on a robust community input period an all-inclusive playground concept design was created under the leadership of the contracted design team of Sanders and Czapski Associates in conjunction with Progressive AE specializing in Landscape Architecture, and Let Kids Play specializing in Inclusive Playgrounds. All playable features were chosen based on the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards for safety and the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) standards for accessibility, as well as the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) standards for all playground equipment. The unique equipment was chosen based on the following ideals set forth by Mara Kaplan at Let Kids Play.
The resulting playground will delight children and families of all abilities.
How did we fund the playground?
The fundraising goal for the playground was $1.7M. A project of this magnitude took the entire community, one dollar at a time to realize the treasure we can call our own.
The City of Marquette successfully received a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Grant in the amount of $300,000. Planning and construction commenced in 2022 and was completed in the fall of 2024.
A leading company in the building of inclusive playgrounds was contracted to complete the project. We asked our community to come forward, join arms with the Marquette Playgrounds for All Committee and Community Foundation of Marquette County and take the exciting steps in creating OUR Kids Cove II which reflects OUR community and became the TREASURE that our children deserve.
The Playground for All Committee and City of Marquette partnered with the Community Foundation of Marquette County to raise funds for this project. The Community Foundation of Marquette County, a Michigan 501(c)3 Non-Profit Corporation, was the fiscal agent for this project (Federal Tax ID 38-2826563).
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Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.
-Mr Rogers