Inside Firestone

Firestone Resident Designs New Sports Complex Playground

With a total of 2,489 pieces and parts installed by the Firestone Public Works department, the new playground at the Firestone Regional Sports Complex is certainly the largest in the community, as well as the most colorful. Most of the buzz so far circles around the items people haven’t seen before in a playground setting, including spring riders, a giant ladybug, toddler chimes, bongo pod, hippo slide, gravity cube and jax web.

The inspiration and design behind the new playground comes from Firestone resident Heather Heasley, who designs and sells recreational items for Churchich Recreation in Niwot, a national supplier of recreational products.

“I like to consider myself to be more out of the box in terms of brainstorming new ideas,” Heasley said, adding that the jax web and gravity cube are new ideas she hopes to add to the company’s catalog. “I wanted to be able to make something a little more exciting and give people something to talk about.” And as a Firestone resident, having her work on permanent display and knowing that her daughter will be one of the many kids to climb among the fun gives her a vested interest in the community.

Heasley has been working for Churchich Recreation for about eight years - first in Southern California before transferring to the Colorado office. “The job is always a challenge, but it offers fun and excitement,” she said. The goal is to functionally link things together so there is always something new for all ages.

Completed in mid-September by the Firestone Public Works department, the playground was part of the phase 2A improvements to the sports complex, which also included a new picnic shelter installed by Public Works, a restroom that was built by the Public Works team and landscaping throughout the grounds.

Read the story about Heather Heasley in the Carbon Valley Farmer & Miner.

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