HOUGHTON - There isn't a lot of nature visible during a western Upper Peninsula winter, so the organizers of the Tree House Indoor Playspace for young children decided to bring nature to a warm spot where children can play safely.
The Tree House, which is a creation of the Keweenaw Family Resource Center based on an idea by community activist Jessica Della Valla, is under construction now in two suites in the Red Ridge Plaza on Sharon Avenue. It is expected to be open for at least a little of this year's winter.
Monica Aho, chairwoman of the playspace design team, said besides providing a safe, warm place for children to play in the winter, it's intention is to help them grow, and the idea expanded from that.
"At first, we just started with what to do to help kids developmentally," she said.
It was decided by the design team to produce a space which would provide opportunities for jumping, crashing, swinging, balancing, aerobic and coordination development, Aho said.
"We kind of brainstormed what kinds of activities and equipment would give us that," she said.
Through a process of elimination, Aho said the theme of bringing the outdoors to the indoors was chosen might help children cope with the actual weather.
"We have such long winters," she said.
Aho said the membership of the design team was fluid, but at one point it included Associate Professor Rick Loduha's human factors class at the Finlandia University International School of Art & Design. All totaled, more than 50 people had input for the design of the playspace.
Included in the playspace, Aho said, is a lily pond, which is really a waterbed.
"That came because we wanted something kids could balance on," she said.
Keeping with the lily pond theme, Aho said local artists Julie Benda and Tobias Dawson provided some color and three-dimensional creativity. Benda, who is a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point art student majoring in printmaking, created a pond design and painted a mural of frogs in a wetlands scene on the wall next to the lily pond area. Dawson is an artist and designer from Misery Bay, now living in southeast Michigan. He created a concrete frog sculpture for the playspace, which, however, is not for climbing on. Artist Christine Westrich created the Merry Go Trike, which has three seats and three sets of pedals and goes around in a circle.
"We wanted artists to design things to engage children as much as possible," she said.
The tree in the playspace will be constructed of foam, Aho said, and it will be hollow so children can climb inside to get to the treehouse, which will be constructed on top of a metal beam frame. There will be punching bags hanging from the frame for the children to bang on, also.
"These are kids that are too small for hockey," she said.
Part of the decoration for the KFRC office, which is next to the playspace, is pickets, which will be placed on a wall, and Cathy Benda, KFRC executive director, said people can by the pickets for $100 and place names of people they would like remembered on the pickets.
"We have 200 to sell," she said. "We've sold about a quarter of them."
Aho said although the playspace still needs work, it's expected it will be open sometime in February.
"There's a lot that needs to be done," she said. "It's coming along."
To get information about memberships or sponsorships for the Tree House Indoor Playspace, call the KFRC at 482-9363. To follow the progress of the construction, go online to houghtonwinterpark.blogspot.com.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@ mininggazette.com.
The Tree House, which is a creation of the Keweenaw Family Resource Center based on an idea by community activist Jessica Della Valla, is under construction now in two suites in the Red Ridge Plaza on Sharon Avenue. It is expected to be open for at least a little of this year's winter.
Monica Aho, chairwoman of the playspace design team, said besides providing a safe, warm place for children to play in the winter, it's intention is to help them grow, and the idea expanded from that.
"At first, we just started with what to do to help kids developmentally," she said.
It was decided by the design team to produce a space which would provide opportunities for jumping, crashing, swinging, balancing, aerobic and coordination development, Aho said.
"We kind of brainstormed what kinds of activities and equipment would give us that," she said.
Through a process of elimination, Aho said the theme of bringing the outdoors to the indoors was chosen might help children cope with the actual weather.
"We have such long winters," she said.
Aho said the membership of the design team was fluid, but at one point it included Associate Professor Rick Loduha's human factors class at the Finlandia University International School of Art & Design. All totaled, more than 50 people had input for the design of the playspace.
Included in the playspace, Aho said, is a lily pond, which is really a waterbed.
"That came because we wanted something kids could balance on," she said.
Keeping with the lily pond theme, Aho said local artists Julie Benda and Tobias Dawson provided some color and three-dimensional creativity. Benda, who is a University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point art student majoring in printmaking, created a pond design and painted a mural of frogs in a wetlands scene on the wall next to the lily pond area. Dawson is an artist and designer from Misery Bay, now living in southeast Michigan. He created a concrete frog sculpture for the playspace, which, however, is not for climbing on. Artist Christine Westrich created the Merry Go Trike, which has three seats and three sets of pedals and goes around in a circle.
"We wanted artists to design things to engage children as much as possible," she said.
The tree in the playspace will be constructed of foam, Aho said, and it will be hollow so children can climb inside to get to the treehouse, which will be constructed on top of a metal beam frame. There will be punching bags hanging from the frame for the children to bang on, also.
"These are kids that are too small for hockey," she said.
Part of the decoration for the KFRC office, which is next to the playspace, is pickets, which will be placed on a wall, and Cathy Benda, KFRC executive director, said people can by the pickets for $100 and place names of people they would like remembered on the pickets.
"We have 200 to sell," she said. "We've sold about a quarter of them."
Aho said although the playspace still needs work, it's expected it will be open sometime in February.
"There's a lot that needs to be done," she said. "It's coming along."
To get information about memberships or sponsorships for the Tree House Indoor Playspace, call the KFRC at 482-9363. To follow the progress of the construction, go online to houghtonwinterpark.blogspot.com.
Kurt Hauglie can be reached at khauglie@ mininggazette.com.
can't wait to see it. Looks great!
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