“We try to have some sort of custom
element in every project. I feel pretty
strongly that all of our pads should
have some individual character,”
said Theisen, who designed the
Lakeview Park splashpad in Middleton,
one of the first in Wisconsin and
often regarded as the standard for
splashpad design in the state. He
also has two complete, customdesigned splashpad lines in an
international aquatic play equipment
manufacturer’s catalog.
ACCOMMODATING
USERS CREATIVELY
T
he campground-themed splashpad at Blue Mound
State Park is really making a splash with its patrons.
And how could it not, considering how chock full
of fun water features the southern Wisconsin splashpad
is filled with? Among them are a 14-foot-tall, campfirethemed interactive spray feature, a double-sized tent
aimed to soak kids as they shoot through it, water cannons
painted to look like chipmunks and squirrels, and giant
pine trees that rain water, all guaranteed to keep kids cool
– and entertained – all summer long.
Popular splashpads enhance aquatic
activities available to park patrons
By Jennifer Schmidt
2│TRENDS
“We are really proud of it. I think this is one of the only
splashpads like this in the country,” said Missy VanLanduyt,
capital development specialist for the Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), which oversees
development in the state park system. “It’s gorgeous, and
we get a lot of really good comments from our users. It
turned out even better than what we had anticipated.”
Blake Theisen of Ayres Associates served as project
manager and lead designer and confirmed that the
splashpad at Blue Mound State Park – the only Wisconsin
state park to have one – indeed features unique elements.
As with every splashpad he designs, Theisen made sure he
listened to the client’s and community’s needs and used
that information to find the essence of the site it was
going into.
VanLanduyt shepherded the Blue
Mound project from inception to
completion and served as a liaison
between the WDNR administration
and staff and the project team of
WDNR and DOA project managers,
contractors, and the design team.
Noting that the primary users of
their property were families for
camping, she said both Theisen and
civil engineer Katie MacDonald “hit
the mark” in giving them a one-of-akind project that stayed within their
mission, maintained a recreation- and
nature-based focus, and catered to
people of all ages.
“It can be challenging to put
something so non-natural into a
natural state park environment. They
did such a good job of listening to us
on wanting to blend the natural in
the unnatural world by putting in the
camping theme along with the style
and the colors. The overall design
of the space really blends well with
the landscape,” she said, sharing
how a small wading pool and an
adjacent – and dated – 4,000-squarefoot swimming pool were in the
space before the splashpad and new
swimming pool were installed. Ayres
also designed a new pool as part of
the facility reconstruction project.
VanLanduyt said she appreciated how
Theisen and MacDonald were on-site
often and “continually went above
and beyond for the project.” They
made sure the WDNR remained on
budget as the project progressed and
were responsive when issues arose,
such as unsuitable soils uncovered
during construction.
“That was a big challenge for us – and
especially for Katie at Ayres to do a lot
of redesign and calculating to be able
to know which soils were coming out,
which new soils had to be put back
in, and what they were made up of,”
VanLanduyt said.
She appreciated how Theisen and
MacDonald worked diligently with
the contractor to see that the project
was completed ahead of schedule by
Memorial Day, the unofficial kickoff to
summer for campers.
“I always felt like this was their project
in their backyard,” said VanLanduyt,
who frequents the splashpad with her
4- and 2-year-old daughters and was
there for opening weekend this year,
Memorial Day. “I felt like they really
were advocating for the DNR with the
contractor and throughout the design.
I felt like they just really cared about
it. It was very personal to them.”
TRENDS
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