REPLAY Magazine Features Orca Coast Playgrounds

March 16, 2009

Read more about the three page featured article in REPLAY Magazine. click each image below to view. (PDF 696KB)

REPLAY Magazine Special Report Consults Orca Coast's Bill Dunbar

March 16, 2009

Read more about the two page featured article in REPLAY Magazine. click each image below to view.

REPLAY Magazine features Orca Client Rafiki

December, 2008

Read more about the two page featured article in REPLAY Magazine. click each image below to view.

New Indoor Playground to Open in Shoreview

March 4, 2009

Cabin-fever kids and their parents will have a new way to escape the winter blahs in Shoreview when a new Orca Coast built indoor playground opens. - click here to view

More info on Lead and Phthalates Ban

February 24, 2009

Letter from Northwest Plastics (Orca Supplier) - click to view page 1 - click to view page 2
Guide to the Consumer Product Safety Improvemnt Act (PDF format) - click here to view

Five-story, $186K indoor playground on tap for Shoreview this spring.

by Nicholas Backus - Shoreview Press.com
February 10, 2009

SHOREVIEW — Shoreview tykes can rejoice now that the city’s Community Center is getting its own indoor playground this spring.

The $186,000 structure was unanimously approved by the City Council Feb. 2, and a builder has already been selected.

“It's great for kids to have a place in the winter where they can be active and have fun at the same time,” said Mayor Sandy Martin.

Shoreview follows the lead of other metro communities that already have popular indoor play areas, including New Brighton. Woodbury, Edina, Eagan and Maple Grove.

“We're always looking for new and innovative ways to attract people to the community center,” Martin said. “The market is going in this direction and a lot of cities are doing it.”

City staff was particularly impressed with Edinborough Park in Edina after a tour, according to a recent report from Shoreview Park and Recreation Director Jerry Haffeman and City Manager Terry Schwerm. Now Shoreview will have its own.

The 22- by 36-foot playground will be located in one-half of the third gym in the community center, Haffeman said. Its five-story design will stand 23 feet tall, 13 feet above the running track.

“It will go all the way from the floor to the bottom of the rafters,” Haffeman said. “It adds excitement.”

The playground will be tropically themed, which Schwerm said fits well into what the community center already offers, including a pool area and area for birthday parties.

Haffeman said the majority of the money will go toward the more than 30 activities and features planned within the park. The city wanted to advocate the use of hands-on features rather than themed decorations, he said.

“You can have a bunch of toucans and lion heads, but the kids can't use them,” he said. “More theme can be added in the future.”

Activities that formerly used the third gym can now be held in the other gyms, Haffeman added.

The council and Haffeman discussed possible problems with the structure's planning, including the possibility that seating for parents could be limited. With a structure capacity of around 200 children, a lot of parents might not have a place to relax, Haffeman said.

“We don't know exactly how we should handle the set-up of chairs (around the structure) but we want to provide parents with a comfortable place to watch their kids,” he said.

Council member Ady Wickstrom voiced safety concerns that the above running track might be too close to the structure, encouraging unsupervised daredevil children to jump from one to the other. Haffeman suggested installing Plexiglas on areas where the running track comes close to the structure.

“We will be as safe as we possibly can,” Haffeman said about the playground's construction. “Once we start doing the installation we will evaluate further.”

The city is looking to charge $4 to $4.50 for general admission, which would be free with a community center membership. City officials expect the park to pay for itself within 2.5 years with annual revenues projected at $100,000 a year and expenses, including cleaning and repairs, estimated at $25,000.

According to Haffeman's report, the city received four proposals to build the playground and chose British Columbia-based Orca Coast, which built a park at the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells.

With spring approaching, the city hopes to have the park open in time for rainy weather.

“(We hope to) shake it down before summer,” Haffeman said.

 

---

Orca Coast Play not affected by Lead and Phthalates Ban

February 10, 2009

The CPSC recently banned products containing hazardous levels of lead and phthalates. Orca Coast Play is proud to state that all products and materials used in any playground or accessory are completly free from lead and phthalates.

 

---

IAAPA 2008  What a show!

 

Hopefully you were able to make it down (or over or up) to Orlando for the recent IAAPA (International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions) tradeshow…..if you weren’t we have now posted some images of our booth #4440.   The show for Orca was a smashing success.  As you can see Orca’s debut playground showcase at the show was a quaint French Villa theme including crazy chickens, a French country windmill and old style architecture.  This playground appealed to children and adults a like.  The structure we built was easily cleared by safety officials who had stated it may have been one of the most well built playgrounds he had ever seen.  The proof is in the pudding as some say and Orca proceeded to see around 300 children go through the structure at the show (it was hard to get them out), and sold the playground twice over to clients in Miami and Halifax….Congratulations to you both, we know you will love the quality and the service you will get from Orca!    Look out for Orca’s attendance at the next IAAPA show in Las Vegas, something spectacular is on the horizon….

With Warm regards,

The Team at Orca Coast Playground Ltd.