Bartholomew County: Commons Playground
Ed Note: This one is a bit tricky since it’s our hometown. Nevertheless, we did something new and fun.
The Commons mall has been a staple of Bartholomew County (and its main city, Columbus) since 1973. Originally designed by Cesar Pelli, the architecture is unique, as is most of the other buildings throughout Columbus.
The mall was a place to shop, see a movie, host an event, or grab a quick bite. It also had a very popular playground area that was always busy during the day.
A few years ago, it was decided to renovate the Commons, as it was dated and not drawing as much business or interest as years past. In addition, its change was to be a focal point as part of a bigger revitalization of downtown Columbus.
Here we are, a number of years later, and the major construction is now done. Recently, the mall opened the playground area to the public. We took advantage of this to check out what’s new and give the kid an opportunity to run around for a bit.
The most striking feature of this new area is the massive climbing structure. A enclosed netted structure with these wooden plank boards that you can climb up and down through various pathways. This immediately grabs the attention of just about any kid.
Poor Isaac tried to go up, but he just wasn’t big enough to get very far.
One of the original fixtures of the mall was a sculpture calls CHAOS I, by Jean Tinguely. I don’t really know any way to describe it other than it’s a large scrap metal looking thing that has moving parts. It was impossible to get inside of the camera frame in its entirety, but a google search will turn up shots of it from before the mall’s renovation.
What’s interesting about this, I think, is that during the entire destruction and reconstruction process of the mall, this sculpture never moved. They literally built a wall around it, and then tore down the old building and put up the new one while leaving this thing in place.
The escalators to the right of the above picture were just as popular of a kid plaything as was the rest of the playground.
One can’t have a building in Columbus without fancy C shaped bike racks, another staple from around town.
The place was overly crowded during our visit, being the opening weekend, so we didn’t stay all that long. But, it was a fun visit with the kid, cost nothing, and we got a chance to see some of the new beautiful renovated space.