It’s time to play! KidsUp! The Next Generation of Play, an imaginative, inclusive new playground built around a giant Ferry Boat play structure, opens Sept. 4 at Battle Point Park on Bainbridge Island. A 10 a.m. dedication will celebrate the playground opening, with a Trike Track parade, music and food trucks planned for a day of excitement and fun for kids and families.
The event is presented by the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District and Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation and sponsored by Play Creations and Landscape Structures, Inc. The playground centerpiece is a two level, 47-foot-long custom-built, one-of-kind play structure that evokes the Puget Sound ferry fleet. In the vanguard of accessible playground design, KidsUp! sets an exceptional standard for inclusion and safety.
The Trike Track will invite children to decorate their bikes and join the Trike Track Parade at 10:30 a.m.
Elements like the wheelchair-friendly We-Go-Round spinner offer a common play experience for all users regardless of mobility or development. All playground areas are accessible, and extensive soft surfacing minimizes impact from falls. Honoring Northwest stories and lore, the playground features climbable Orca whales, and a Lookout Pier extending over the “Rotary Beach” sandy play area and hidden octopus sculpture. Other highlights include a winding Trike Track through the center of the ferry, a Sound Garden of outdoor musical elements, new swings, spinners and slides, and many artworks among fragrant gardens of wildflowers and herbs.
The playground retains several features of the beloved, original KidsUp! Playground on the same site, including the signature “castle towers” and much of the Northwest-inspired artworks, newly refurbished. The towers are integrated with the playground’s new layout, connecting to the ferry boat at one end and an elevated walkway at the other to form a continuous pathway around the open, expansive play area.
KidsUp! The Next Generation of Play was built by the Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District, with fundraising by the nonprofit Bainbridge Island Foundation and the support of committee representing local parents, many grantors, sponsors and private donors in a three-year capital campaign.
Battle Point Park is at 11299 Arrow Point Drive NE, Bainbridge Island.
