Specially designed playground in West Pullman acts as sponge to reduce flooding
A specially designed playground in the West Pullman neighborhood is making a difference, addressing flooding and the impact of climate change across Chicago.
The playground behind Ronald Brown Elementary Academy, at 12607 S. Union Ave., includes a basketball court, football field, and running track, and children's playground equipment. It's also designed to capture more than 300,000 gallons of water to prevent storms from flooding nearby homes or streets.
Since the space opened last spring, it's made a major difference in the area.
"With these places, once the water rains, it gets absorbed almost immediately," said Kenneth Varner, community engagement manager for the nonprofit Healthy Schools Campaign, which teamed up with the nonprofit Openlands conservation group to develop the Space to Grow program to use green infrastructure and transform schoolyards to help manage stormwater runoff and reduce flooding.
The 41 Space to Grow playgrounds across the city, all with underground chamber systems acting as sponges, gradually release water into the ground, collectively capturing up to 8.7 million gallons of water every time it rains.
"With climate change, we're experiencing more heavy and intense storms. So, the more that we can make our communities resilient to climate change, the better off they'll be," said Openlands conservation planning specialist Danielle Russell.
Openlands and the Healthy Schools Campaign partnered with Chicago Public Schools, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, and the city of Chicago to make the Space to Grow program possible.
The playground at Ronald Brown Academy can capture just over 300,000 gallons per rain event, averaging just shy of a million gallons over a year.
"This schoolyard helps reduce that pressure on the sewer system," Varner said.
Ronald Brown Academy science teacher Angela Gilliam said it has been an amazing project.
"This helps not only our school, it helps the community," she said.
Four more schools will get Space to Grow playgrounds like, including the first-ever high school – George Washington High School in the East Side neighborhood.
"There's a lot of obvious doom and gloom with climate change. It can be quite scary, and so I think spaces like this that promote climate resiliency through joy really helps to restore hope for people," Russell said.
A spokesperson for the city's Department of Environment said the stormwater soaked up by the playground helps reduce the amount of water pooling in the streets and in the basements of nearby homes when it rains.
Gilliam said they've noticed the difference and the neighborhood has, too, especially with all the rain that's fallen in the past month.
"We don't flood as much as it used to. The neighbors are excited about it. The community is excited," she said.