Located in Broomfield, CO, the Paul Derda Rec Center serves over 400,000 people each year, including more than 400 people a day in its indoor play area. With that much use, after more than a decade, it was time to replace the play area.“It was becoming more difficult to find replacement parts and we were no longer up-to-date on ADA requirements,” says Nancy Harrold, Director of Recreation Services for the City and County of Broomfield.

But, because the Paul Derda Rec Center’s play area was so beloved by the community, replacing it required a lot of community input… and some creative suspense-building tactics.

“First, we did a survey,” explains Matthew Gulley, Recreation Facility Manager. “We had over 375 responses and we normally only get about 50 responses to our surveys. We learned that 98% of respondents said that the play area was ‘very important’ to them.”

There was also a lot of nostalgia around the old play area, so Gulley sought a way to honor the past while providing something new. Of course, safety was a big concern, as well.

After a competitive bidding process, the City of Broomfield chose Soft Play to create a new play area, including a tower structure with two slides and a soft playground. The previous play area only included a tower structure, so the Soft Play pieces were a welcome addition for smaller children.

According to Jeff Williamson, Soft Play’s Business Development Associate, this process was a special joy for Soft Play because it was a local, Colorado client and the company’s artists enjoyed the challenge of blending the “old” with the “new.

“We really wanted to push ourselves to try something new,” says Williamson. “The design team came up with a special concept for the tower. It was especially rewarding because the community is so invested in the play area.”

The new tower structure at the Paul Derda Rec Center includes paw prints that play sound, slides that play sound, and two giant, playful animal heads – a bear and a lion – that had been part of the previous play area, reminding the community that their input mattered. The soft play elements include custom carpeting, a bear on a log tunnel, ladybug, turtle, beaver and a fish.

Perhaps most fun of all, Gulley and his team figured out a way to build suspense around the new play area’s construction.

“We kept the playground covered for three weeks during demolition and installation,” says Gulley. “It was fun because we cut little holes in the bottom of the tarp so that little kids could peek in. They’d look in and tell their parents what was happening. I even saw a mom who was down on all fours looking through the holes to check out the process.”

The Center also installed signs with a countdown to the old play area’s closing and then a countdown to the grand opening of the new play area

“It really built a lot of momentum and suspense,” says Harrold.

When the new play area opened, the community “raved.”

“I even talked to a woman who took our survey and said she was skeptical that we’d be able to provide something as popular as the old play area,” says Gulley. “She said she was very pleased and that we had achieved our goals.” (See a Showcase of this project here.)