Tree Form, I mistakenly called it DNA swirls when I was a kid.
Saddle Slide, I don't remember there being one of these at Cascades.
Castle, we called them adobe huts.
We took the long way to Chicago this weekend, hoping to catch a garage sale or two, find some roadside honey sellers. Driving through South Haven, I was startled by a call back to my childhood and made Dave turn around.
There they were - the play sculptures of my youth. I had to learn more.
An internet search for playground sculptures, I discovered the artist, Jim Miller-Melberg. A true Michigander, he was born in Detroit, went to Cranbrook, then Wayne State and the University of Michigan. He founded a company, Form, Inc., and designed playgrounds nationwide.
In addition to the designs above, his outdoor sculptures included benches, game tables, picnic tables, basketball hoops, water fountains, animals (dophins and turtles are favorites among us GenXers), play walls (also called Swiss cheese due to the holes), and, of course, the iconic moon house. Link to the catalog here.
I posted the photos on Facebook, which brought friends out of the woodwork to share their love for the play sculptures. I also found a fan page devoted to finding where his playground pieces still exist, and I was able to add my find. Now I have a reference in case I want to rediscover the play wall or a moon house.
Thank you, Jim, for a fantastic childhood memory.
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