Bringing Nature Play to Eastsound Village on Orcas Island
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Last week, GreenWorks Landscape Architect and Project Manager Ben Johnson traveled to Orcas Island in Washington to attend the dedication of the Village Green Nature Play space. It’s located in the town of Eastsound, the largest community on Orcas Island, at the mid-point of the 57-square-mile island.
GreenWorks was hired by San Juan County Parks to design the playground in the Village Green, at the heart of Eastsound Village. It’s a civic open space home to a weekly farmers market and community events. The nature play area is the first for San Juan County’s park system.
An energetic and involved group of residents were instrumental in bringing the play area to fruition, both in long-term advocacy, as well as involvement in the design process. The group was inspired by Portland Parks & Recreation’s Westmoreland Nature Play Area (also designed by GreenWorks). A local design review committee worked closely with our team to refine and select the final plan.
The theme of the play area is “island hopping,” evident in the park’s materials: several locally salvaged granite boulders representing islands, large log climbers as a nod to driftwood, and a sand play area that mimics island shorelines. Local craftspeople and artists donated their time, talents, and materials to get the project built.
We asked Ben what the play area is like and how it came to be.
People enjoyed congregating around the new nature play area. Click through to see an early model GreenWorks created of the space, as well as a model Zackarya Leck created of the slide.
GW: What’s it like visiting the community the play space has been built in?
BJ: Orcas Island has this mix of people who live permanently on the island and people that visit there, like a lot of coastal tourist destinations. Those involved with creating the play space were hard-working, creative, and community focused people willing to pitch in with their skills materials to make the project happen. Even a B&B owner (The Kangaroo House) gave me a room for two nights and fed me incredible breakfasts as their way to pitching into the cause. It was quite inspiring to feel the passion of the community
GW: Were there other ways the community pitched in to create it?
BJ: There was an obvious need for a play space in Eastsound Village, and the Village Green (a San Juan County park) was identified as a logical public space for it. One resident, Kent Katz, suggested they build a nature playground after visiting Westmoreland. Many folks involved didn’t realize such a playground was possible. Ken brought GreenWorks into the process and started raising funds. Many other people stepped up to plate, including Margaret Payne who is now on the Parks Commission for San Juan County Parks, to keep fund raising and get the project built. Chuck Greening orchestrated much of the construction of the project while Zackarya Leck fabricated the logs and built the slide.
GW: What was the GreenWorks design process like?
BJ: The design was inspired by the San Juan Islands. We used native boulders and logs to evoke islands kids can climb and hop between at their own skill level. Much of what we’ve learned on past projects we incorporated here to make a small play space (3,000 square feet) have a high play value. I visited the island twice during design: once to visit the site and learn from the people involved, and a second time to present design options to the design review committee and public.
GW: From your photos it looks like the play space had some whimsical custom-made elements to it. Can you tell us more about these?
Watch a fundraising video the group produced to introduce the project.
BJ: Zackarya Leck is a local artist on the island and was asked early on to incorporate art into the project. Zackarya took on the slide which turned out to be the showpiece of the playground—it is such a great whimsical, yet functional art piece. You must see it in person to really experience it. It is amazing.
Other features include the logs, all salvaged from Moran State Park after a wind storm. There’s this on huge Cedar log that was salvaged after a fire. They’ve carved it into a great element kids can climb on and through. On the day of the dedication, a bunch of kids were just sitting on that log, giggling and drawing with chalk.
GW: Is there anything else we should know about the project?
BJ: It’s pretty special to get a call to be asked to design a playground on Orcas Island. I really never imagined the skills I have would be sought-after like that. If it means going places like the San Juan Islands to help a community achieve their dreams, I’m all good with that.
