I was surprised the other day by St. Paul, which doesn’t happen often but it’s nice when it does, and in this case it was about a playground. I rode with Kidical Mass from Highland Park (the playground across Montreal Ave from the Circus Juventas big top tent) on a short trip that took us to EXPO Elementary on Randolph Ave. And tucked behind EXPO is an excellent Landscape Structures Inc playground. I’m not sure you’d ever spot this playground from the road or have any idea it exists if you aren’t a EXPO student/family or live in the immediate area, but it is worth checking out.
Right off the bat I just want to call out the excellent example of quality beginner monkey bars.
These monkey bars hit all of the boxes:
- Low bar height for beginners
- Narrow gauge of bars for small hands
- Platforms on either side for access
- Poured rubber surfacing so the fall distance remains consistent over time
- Integrated into a route via stepping pillars to another composite structure.
I hadn’t ever really considered the poured rubber benefit under monkey bars before, but it makes a lot of sense after seeing so many bars perilously high over degraded mulch surfaces. I think this set of bars is probably the gold standard, absent some crazy art-directed design. This is bare bones without missing key features.
There is a lot more to like about this playground behind EXPO, too, like the shaded swings tucked way in the back, a small pergola for sitting, and the equipments wider range of skill levels. While I was there, the playground was being used by kids from 1 year of age up to middle schoolers playing something like tag (I wasn’t really paying attention, so it could have been something else). The playground manages to cater to these different groups with different, though closely spaced, zones. Nothing feels truly separate, but it is possible for younger kids to play with a bit of separation from older kids.
EXPO gets a few more things right, including exciting routing and connections. In the middle of the play area there are five composite structures. Each individually would suffice as a community playground but here they actually combine into something greater than their parts. Balance beams, stepping posts, and rope webs connect these structures together in a linear chain into one larger structure. The only improvement that comes to mind is if this was a continuous looping chain, rather than having terminal ends, so kids could chase in circles forever. Still, it offers a great deal more fun than just an up and down transversal on a single structure.
This playground also excels in the variety of climbers. Mostly that’s a function of the size and quantity of the structures, but it’s nice that it wasn’t overlooked.
Finally, EXPO manages to provide some shade on portions of the park (and more shade as the sun sets west of the school building). The swings to the north are almost entirely shaded, as well as the smaller composite structure just south of the swings. The rest of the play area is full sun until about 1pm. It is possible to get out of the sun in the shade of some trees next to the school building where, smartly, there are some picnic tables.
Overall, an unexpected but great find in St. Paul. For families it’s too bad this is a school playground with means there are off-limits times, but I’m sure the students love it. Check it out on a weekend where the sun isn’t beating down.