The Southwest Corridor playground is a joint project between the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), a state agency, and The Boston Children’s Hospital, who raised the funds for the project.

When the project started there was a well-used basketball court, a small greenery beside it and a double bike and walking path running through the space. The group wanted as much play value as possible in the small area while keeping the basketball court and bike/walking path.

The Wallholla climbing structure answered all of their needs for space saving, lots of play and a perfect divider between the basketball court and playground. The eye-catching aesthetic and ultimate transparency was the icing on the cake.

With the space that they saved by using the Wallholla they chose other play items that would give children a variety of movement opportunities: the spinning of the Integration Carousel, the swaying of the Grass, the inertia of the Zip Line and the to-and-fro of the swings.

The Jackson Square “T” (subway) station is steps away from the play area and the playground will be installed directly over the subway tunnel. Special footing changes were made for the shallow depths overtop the tunnel.  Goric worked with a team of people from the Boston Children’s Hospital, the DCR and the landscape architects from Stantec to design the area in a way that would meet the needs of the local community.

The playground will open in 2013.