A great playground gives a community more than a place for kids to play. It gives neighbors a place to gather, and it gives every child, of every ability, a place to belong.
That’s what the City of Las Cruces set out to build with the East Mesa Public Recreation Complex. They spent a year planning an inclusive playground around a tower that didn’t exist yet.
A City With a Vision for Inclusive Play
For over a year, the City of Las Cruces, New Mexico had a vision for a new inclusive playground. They wanted children of all abilities to play together, and they wanted a play tower at the center of it.
During those initial planning conversations, a new Landscapes Structures inclusive play tower was in development. The local sales rep knew the product line well and knew what an inclusive play tower could mean for the community. When the Volo Aire was close to launch, he brought it to the city. A three-story tower with a winding net path to the top, a vertical climbing challenge through the center, and views out from every level, was exactly what they had been envisioning.
The city got excited, and they placed the first order for the new tower. It’s a good example of what coordination and product knowledge can do. A year of planning, a new product on the way, and a rep who was well-versed in the product, turned the city’s vision into reality.
A Sports Complex Playground Built for Busy Days
The Las Cruces Recreation Complex playground sits inside a sports complex with baseball fields, soccer fields, basketball courts, restrooms, and shade. On tournament weekends the complex fills with families, and many of them stay long after the final game because the playground is so hard to leave.
It is one of the largest playgrounds serving the area, and the park director wanted it to feel special. That vision is easy to see today. Every child who walks in finds something made just for them.
The Volo Aire Play Tower: A Hilltop Centerpiece
The city placed the Volo Aire tower on a hill, and that choice shapes the whole play experience. Kids step inside and can decide where to go among three distinct levels of play activities. From the top, they can see the entire park.
A winding path of LSI Flexx® steel-reinforced net spirals up through the tower, so children of all abilities can climb all the way to the top. Some take it slowly and test each step, feeling the net shift beneath their hands and feet. Others charge up the vertical climbing challenge in the center, reaching for the next hold. Perforated panels at the mid-level and vertical slats at the top give kids exciting views as they climb, while parents on the ground can see the activity the whole way up. The flow keeps moving even when a whole crew is playing, so kids pass each other, wait for friends, and race side by side.
A Variety of Play Equipment for Every Age and Ability
The first thing most visitors notice is how much there is to do. Kids can climb a tower, explore a toddler friendly structure, fly down a zipline, swing, spin, rock on a seesaw, play music, and follow a nature-inspired path into a game of their own imagination. There are small components and large components, so toddlers and older kids each find a challenge that fits. Each component offers an accessible entrance allowing children of all abilities to play together.
Variety matters, a child at this park never has to settle for the one thing they can do. When many kinds of play share one space, engaging and inclusive play becomes the natural way to spend an afternoon.
Inclusive Play: Playing Side by Side
Many of the park’s features invite kids to play together instead of near each other. The four-person seesaw gives a group a fun team challenge. The spinners carry several children at once, all gripping and leaning and laughing. Multiple swing bays sit in a row, so a child in a molded bucket seat and a child on a belt swing can glide at the same height. On the ZipKrooz zipline, children of all abilities fly next to one another and race to the end.
When kids play side by side, they learn how to take turns, how to meet a new friend, and how to hold on and let go. They also stop noticing differences and start noticing each other.
Benefits of Play: How Each Component Supports Kids’ Development
- Volo Aire Play Tower. Volo Aire is specially designed to pack maximum play value into a compact footprint. Kids of all abilities will enjoy testing their bravery as they climb the soaring three-story tower using the accessible LSI Flexx® path or internal vertical climbers. Along the way they’ll find cleverly integrated play events that further stimulate their mind and body.
- Sprig Play Structure for ages 2 to 5. This is where the youngest players get started. Designed for kids ages 2 to 5, Sprig has just-right heights for budding climbers and looks like it’s sprouting from the earth. Little ones step or crawl across leafy pods, slide flower blossoms back and forth, and whoosh down one of two slides to ring the chimes at the bottom. Along the way they build balance, coordination, and problem solving, all under a canopy of SkyWays® shade fabric.
- ZipKrooz Inclusive Zipline. Children line up for this zipline to experience the thrill of flying. The molded bucket seat has a lock-in-place harness that gives stability and security to kids with limited core strength, so they can fly like everyone else. Feet leave the ground, the wind rushes past, and a squeal turns into a laugh. The ride builds upper body strength and coordination, and the sensation of motion is a rich sensory experience. When it ends, you can almost always hear a child say, “Again!”
- Inclusive Swings and Spinners. Belt swings are for kids who pump their legs and aim for the sky. Molded bucket seat swings or the Friendship Swing gives children with disabilities the support they need to swing, and for many of them it is a chance to feel what other kids have experienced. On the spinners, multiple kids can climb on, lean back, and let the world blur, learning balance and trust from the friends beside them.
- Seesaw for Group Play. A seesaw only works when everyone does their part. Kids learn quickly that the ride gets better when they push off together. With seats for four kids, this is a unique and laugh-inducing endeavor.
- Rhapsody Outdoor Musical Instruments. Chimes, metallophones, and drums from the Rhapsody® collection welcome experienced musicians and total beginners alike. Kids explore rhythm, listen to how different sounds change the tune, and find out how their sounds fit with someone else’s.
- Nature-Inspired Play. Nobody hands a child a map here. She finds a path, follows it, and decides where it goes. A log balance beam or mushroom steepers spark imaginative play as children hop along each component. Because no one tells kids how to play, every visit comes out a little different, and that open-ended play is where curiosity, creativity, and independence grow.
Why Playgrounds Matter for Kids and Communities
Play is how children grow. They build strength and coordination when they climb, swing, and grip. They learn to take turns and to welcome someone new, and they practice being brave in a place where the stakes are small.
But a playground does more than develop a child. It shapes a community. At a park like this one, a parent who just moved to town meets another parent while their kids wait for the zipline. Grandparents sit in the shade and watch three generations play in one afternoon. A family who once skipped the park because nothing there worked for their child starts planning weekends around it. A playground is one of the few places where neighbors of every age, background, and ability show up in the same spot for the same reason, and gathering is how people become neighbors.
Outdoor play also does a great deal for children’s health. Kids spend only a few minutes a day in unstructured outdoor play and hours in front of a screen, so a playground like this one pulls them back outside. Outdoor play gets kids moving, raises vitamin D levels, and lowers the risk of nearsightedness and childhood obesity, and unstructured play builds focus, creativity, and problem solving.
Inclusive play raises the value of all of it. Every child wants to play, but not every environment makes that possible. When a playground welcomes more kids onto the equipment, each child can play in the way that fits her best. For a child with a disability, that means being invited, not just allowed. It means a parent no longer wonders whether there is anything at the park for her child, because the answer is yes.
Playground Design Starts With Project Discovery
Every project we take on, whether it’s a sprawling sports complex park or a single retrofit, begins with Project Discovery. It’s the first step in our process, and it’s where the excitement starts. It’s also collaborative, which sets the foundation for everything that follows.
The City of Las Cruces spent a year planning before they ever placed an order, and it shows how much a thorough start can do for a project. During discovery, we work through the details together: how much space the project has, which equipment will face the sun and where shade is needed, whether the site drains properly, and how families and wheelchairs will reach the area. We also look at who will use the playground, what ages it needs to serve, and what the needs of people with disabilities are in your community. We talk through budget, including equipment, freight, installation, and any site preparation, and we help your wish list meet your budget. We plan the timeline so your project opens when you need it to, and we ask whether you’d like something custom that makes the space unique to your community.
A Complimentary Site Visit With a Certified Inspector
Our Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI) representatives bring a trained eye to every site. Whether you’re ready to break new ground or looking to retrofit existing equipment, a complimentary site visit helps us understand what your project can become and what challenges to plan for. It lets us confirm safety and accessibility standards, tailor the design to your environment, address potential issues early, and make the most of your space.
In-House Design Means Faster Turnaround
We keep our design process in-house, so your project gets our full attention and we can adapt quickly to your feedback. We work closely with you to refine the design, budget, and timeline until you’re 100% satisfied. Our discovery and design processes also complement each other, so nothing gets repeated or lost along the way.
Playground Installation and Retrofits, Big or Small
The Las Cruces Recreation Complex playground is one of the largest in the area, but not every community needs a project this size. We take on projects big and small, from a full new destination park to a single retrofit that opens an existing playground to more kids. An inclusive swing bay, a ground-level play feature, or a musical instrument installation can change who gets to play.
The approach is the same at every scale. From design consultation through installation and ongoing service, we build every playground as a lasting partnership, with value and partnership that lasts decades, not years. We do it with hard work, honesty, and respect, and because it is a joy to help create gathering spaces that support greater connection between individuals.
From rural towns to growing cities, Exerplay works alongside municipalities, school districts, and park and recreation departments across Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, West Texas, Alaska, and Hawaiʻi. If your community is ready to build a place where every child can play together, or to make the one you have work for more kids, schedule a complimentary site visit.
