Country's first glow-in-the-dark playground under construction in Texas
A Dallas suburb broke ground Monday on the country’s first glow-in-the-dark playground designed to give families a place to play at all hours and beat the Texas summer heat.
Farmer’s Branch, a town just 20 minutes outside Dallas known by its tagline “The City in a Park”, wanted to create a community gathering space that was “one of a kind.”
Construction started Monday on the 18,000-square-foot playground, including a 27-foot climbing sphere, slides, swings, an obstacle course and zip lines, a toddler playground, and the signature LED lights throughout. The playground will be interactive with changing color lights and a sound system that plays nature sounds or even Christmas music during the holidays.
The playground will be called Joya, (pronounced ho - ya) which means jewel in Spanish, as Farmer’s Branch hopes this park will be its “crown jewel” of public parks.
The project, which was approved by the city council in 2021, received $4,000,000 in funding from the Federal American Rescue Plan Act, as well as $750,000 from a Texas Parks and Wildlife matching grant.
Deputy City Manager Michael Mashburn, who previously led the Parks and Recreation Department, took on the initiative from City Council and began brainstorming a project. The Parks Department worked alongside KOMPAN Inc., an international commercial playground designer, to create a plan for the park.
When developing plans for the park, Mashburn said the city wanted community input, specifically from a key demographic.
“Typically in projects, we go to the community and a lot of people think adults,” he said. "In this case, I really didn't care what adults thought, we care what the kids thought.”
Mashburn and his team showed the design to focus groups at the local schools, asking for questions and feedback. He said the input from the 7 through 18-year-olds is reflected in the final design.
The city hopes to provide families with a completely free gathering space that’s open in the evening. While the exact hours have not been announced, the LED lights will allow the park to remain open well after sunset. This will make the park more accessible, both during the limited daylight hours of winter and the harsh daytime heat during the summer.
Farmer’s Branch will also provide family activities at the park, including arts and cultural happenings, educational opportunities and food trucks.
“We all want to make sure families have a place to gather and to enjoy being outdoors again,” said Mashburn.
The playground will be ready for use in November 2023.