From pioneer pasts to cosmic climbing: Encouraging families to embrace exploration

When the City of Huntsville needed to replace the dilapidated, yet beloved, Kids’ Space playground at John Hunt Park, the Parks & Recreation department knew its successor would need to instill the same sense of adventure that generations of North Alabamans grew up on.

With input from Huntsville parents, the City and KOMPAN landed on a design that told the story of “Rocket City.” With three distinct areas celebrating pioneer day beginnings, the space race of the 20th Century, and the interstellar future yet to be discovered, this cohesive, sprawling playground is the launchpad for more family memories to be made.

"We were looking for a playground manufacturer and design teammate that would come alongside to help curate a better playground experience for Huntsville. We tend to be dreamers and tinkerers all the way up to the finish line, so KOMPAN showed tremendous flexibility and patience helping work through a dynamic and fluid construction process." - Collin Orcutt, Landscape Architecture Department Manager, Schoel Engineering

Journey to Launch: New heights on rope playground equipment

At John Hunt Park, children will take a trek across time, with each time period marked by a helical play structure that doubles as climbing fun. A ramp structure, honoring its namesake’s 1800s cottage, engages infants and toddlers with its tactile play panels. Older kids will ascend beyond Earth’s surface on the Skywalk and Spacenet, two towering pieces of rope climbing playground equipment. A Universal Carousel lets children of all abilities play and make their orbital rotations together. A hillside dotted with colorful spheres launches their imaginations, transporting them to planets far, far away. Ascending and descending down the membrane climber and embankment slide make for galactic fun and thrills that are out of this world!