Students, Architect Join In Redesigning School Playground

If Coeur d’Alene had an inner-city school, Borah Elementary would be it - based on appearance alone.

Inside, children slam their lockers to the determined strains of Offenbach’s can-can as the orchestra practices. Photos of smiling teachers mingle with neon-bright artwork on hall walls.

It’s warm and cheery, as a neighborhood elementary school should be.

Then there’s the playground - a sea of institutional gray, from the knee-gouging gravel under the dilapidated play equipment to the battered chain-link fence.

“The rocks make it look like the desert,” says Gio Poletti, a fourth-grade boy with sincerity in his eyes.

“When you fall, they cut you and give you scars,” says Alexis Jordan, a 9-year-old girl with healing scabs on her right knee.

Such complaints don’t surprise Jon Mueller. The Coeur d’Alene architect shocked University of Idaho architecture students when he showed them pictures of Borah’s playground.

“They couldn’t believe kids played there,” Jon says.

Neither could art teacher Jane Morgan, although she has watched kids stumble around on the rocks for the nine years she’s worked at the school.

“There aren’t a lot of ways for children to interact with the space out there,” she says. “Dodgeball on gravel? Hopscotch? Jump rope?”

Teachers dreamed about a perfect playground with a greenhouse and places for outdoor lessons. Lack of money smothered those dreams like a blanket over fire, until Jane figured out how to match Borah’s needs to a $25,000 grant available through the Idaho Community Foundation.

She proposed that Borah’s students, with an architect’s guidance, analyze the playground and develop a plan to redesign it. Last June, the grant was approved. Jane took Gio with her to the awards luncheon.

“I got to hold the grant - $25,000 - and shake everyone’s hands,” Gio says, demonstrating his firm grip.

Jane knew Jon would help. He’s a community supporter and former scout leader. He has designed school yards throughout the Northwest.

He offered to match the grant in services.

“I wanted to try this participatory approach because I’ve never done it,” he says. “I’m interested to see if the kids will take possession of it - `This is mine, take care of it. Don’t carve up the benches.”’

Last fall, Jon and Jane took Borah’s fourth-graders to Manito Park in Spokane to study the greenhouse, then to Coeur d’Alene’s Sunset Park off Best Avenue and to Bluegrass Park in Coeur d’Alene Place.

“They really tuned into color and the differences between grass and rock,” Jon says.

The kids also liked linked swings, slides and monkey bars, the shape of grassy berms and trees.

As fall turned to winter, Jon taught the kids about plants and collected playground ideas from students of all ages.

They wanted a skating rink for hockey, bumper cars and a store where they could buy things, but also earn money selling.

“They were OK with eliminating certain things,” Jon says. “We tried to be frank with them.”

Jane and Jon helped the fourth-graders analyze the playground. Kids noted that the bulky gas meter had to stay, the south-facing play area had no protection from the sun and that the most likely spot for a new gym would be where the basketball court now sits.

“A project doesn’t just happen. You have to think about money, plan,” Jane says.

Last month, Jon sketched the fourth-graders’ research into a colorful preliminary plan. There’s a circular playground and a greenhouse flanked by two gardens - one with sun and the other with shade.

“The kids want a quiet area to do some reading,” Jane says.

Grass and asphalt replace gravel. There’s an area with boulders for climbing, and a painted picture on the remaining asphalt of a lion roaring. Borah’s mascot is the lion. Eighty-six leafy trees surround the grounds, provide shade and block the wind.

“I always thought kids should play on grass,” says Tim Fordham, Borah’s easy-going custodian. His playground suggestions were added to the research. “But I look at those trees and wonder `How much work?”’

Coeur d’Alene artist Jan Wilhelmi will help students paint murals on Borah’s exterior next month to kick off the project.

Jane envisions scenes kids can incorporate into their play. The Citizens Council for the Arts and the school’s parent organization will cover the costs.

“I like the idea of having the school brighter,” Gio says.

The whole project will cost $110,000. The grant will cover greenhouse construction, tree planting, landscaping, the boulders and possibly some of the new asphalt. The school district budgeted some money for playground equipment.

The rest of the project will depend on Borah’s fund-raising abilities. Regardless of how that goes, Borah is way ahead.

“The whole process has been really illuminating - that the kids want trees, flowers, a place to visit and read quietly,” Jane says. “We want this to be a place people think of as a community school, a park not just a recess spot.”