Eagle Trace Park Master Plan Improvements

The City constructed improvements at Eagle Trace Park per the adopted Eagle Trace Park Master Plan (click here for more information on the master planning process). 

PLAYGROUND MEETING
Thursday, November 7, 2019 at 6:00 pm - Fire Station 12 (400 South Point Drive)

• Playground Equipment Options (Burke) - as presented on May 20, 2019
• Playground Equipment Option (Playworld)
• Playground Equipment Option Three (Little Tykes)
  • Little Tykes Selected Playground Design w/ Neighborhood Markups
• Final Playground Equipment Design: This design reflects requests from neighborhood representatives as outlined above. Accommodating these requests required slight adjustments to the configuration and elements including the following:
  • Changing stacked timber balance beam to standard balance beam
  • Changing the transfer pad configuration
  • Changing the overhead bars (this was suggested by a neighborhood representative as an alternative to overhead bars that could accommodate more children)
  • Adding a 48" runner
  • Changing the wheen panel to a counter panel

Note that these documents only reflect the playground equipment and do not reflect the exact placement or site design.

EAGLE TRACE MASTER PLAN PUBLIC MEETINGS
November 1, 2018 and May 20, 2019

• Park Playground Input Process
• Eagle Trace Park Playground Neighborhood Map
• Eagle Trace Park Existing Site Photos
• Eagle Trace Playground Equipment Selection
• Eagle Trace Playground Equipment Options Presented at May 20, 2019 Meeting

Background on Madison Playgrounds

The City of Madison currently owns and maintains approximately 180 playgrounds across the park system. This does not include most school playgrounds, which are owned and maintained by MMSD. The 180 playgrounds equates to 7 per 10,000 residents. According to the Trust for Public Land’s annual rating of the 100 largest municipal parks systems in the nation, this puts Madison at #1 and by a fairly sizable margin. As a comparison, Cincinnati has approximately 5 playgrounds per 10K residents and is currently 2nd in the annual ranking in this category. This places Madison at approximately 40% more playgrounds per capita than other leading communities.  Of cities reported by the TPL that have the highest playgrounds per capita, the per capita ratio is between 2.4 and 4.7 playgrounds per 10,000 residents. There are only two municipalities with amounts higher, Madison at 7.1 and Cincinnati at 5.0 playgrounds per capita. Madison Parks is certainly proud of this ranking, but such a sizable system of playgrounds does mean there are significant costs to develop and maintain the system in a safe and accessible manner.

In the 1990s there was a significant reinvestment in playgrounds to move away from wood structures, which were inaccessible, towards equipment that was safer and met ADA guidelines. At this time, the primary surfacing selected for installation was crumb rubber and/or pea gravel. By 2012, there was a significant need to reinvest in our playgrounds again as many were reaching the end of their useful life at similar times. This led to the Parks Division working collaboratively with Alders, the Mayor, and the Board of Park Commissioners to establish a programmatic approach to the replacement of over 120 of the playgrounds over the next decade beginning in 2013. The Council adopted RES-13-00034, Legistar 27854, in January 2013. This called on the Parks Division to develop a replacement program that prioritized playgrounds based on safety, age, and condition in a fair and equitable manner. The program was to include a standard playground equipment package, prioritized yearly capital budget plan for the replacements and equitable guidelines that would allow for neighborhoods to contribute financially to the project.

Additional history and information on the playground process can be found in this letter from Parks Superintendent Eric Knepp to All Alders on July 28, 2020.

All questions and comments regarding this project should be directed to Sarah Lerner, Landscape Architect at slerner@cityofmadison.com or (608) 261-4281.

Information on fundraising opportunities will be available at the meeting and also online: Parks Fundraiser Opportunities.

View additional updates on park projects.