For #TBT, the story of the dragon of Mercer Island park dragon, a rare happy ending for a mid-century playground sculpture!
Since its installation in 1965 on the island off the coast of Seattle Washington (photos are from a 1966 feature in Sunset magazine), the 50-foot long, six ton polka-dotted dragon by artist Kenton Pies had gradually become more difficult to keep in repair. And here I want to point out that this is hardly a criticism; few playgrounds of manufactured equipment–though touted for their durability–would last for fifty years! All play pieces require maintenance, and none last indefinitely. But many wonderful vintage play sculptures have been unnecesarily ripped out by municipalities as ‘dated’ or even ‘unsafe’ (thank you, ASTM) without consulting either the artists that made them or the communities that loved them.
Happily the Mercer Island Parks and Recreation Department was more enlightened than that, and they sought out Kenton, now 81 and living in Montana, to inquire about repairing the dragon. After repair estimates proved to be too costly he proposed building a bigger and better dragon that would be around for many new generations of Mercer Island kids. For $60,000. And here I want to point out that this custom artisinal creation is *way cheaper* than most formulaic, boring, manufactured playgrounds, whose average municipal installation cost in the US is now around $175,000. And the community will never love the play space, never build lifetime memories around it, like Mercer Island has around its dragon.
Still nestled in the trees, with the original dragons head close by in the underbrush as an extra play element and also to satisfy adults nostalgic for the play dragon they remember, the new Mercer Island Dragon should last another fifty years.
The post #TBT Mercer Island’s Playground Dragon, Washington, 1965 and 2013 appeared first on Playscapes.