April 2025 Issue
Features
Get a Piece of the Action
Climbing Walls, Ninja & Challenge Courses to Energize Your Facility
Sport climbing made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Games, with its second and third showings in Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028, driving new interest in this sport. Here we examine how new-built and renovated facilities can incorporate climbing, as well as ninja and challenge courses.
Floor It!
What to Consider When Selecting Indoor Sports & Fitness Surfaces
Whether it’s a cushioned, sound-absorbing surface for the free weight area, a springy surface for the cardio room or a hardwood or synthetic surface for basketball, volleyball, and other indoor sports, understanding how different types of surfaces perform will help you make smart decisions when building or upgrading your facility.
Down to Earth
Environmental Education & Nature Centers Forge Natural Connections
Nature and environmental education centers and trails connect people to important information about the ecosystems they inhabit. Here, we take a look at these important operations, and examine ways to bring nature learning to any facility.
Smooth Operation
Aquatic Maintenance Best Practices Keep Facilities Up & Running
Swimming pools and aquatic facilities are complex operations that require close attention to best practices to ensure not only safe and clean water, but also properly functioning equipment and infrastructure that meets lifecycle expectations.
Departments
inPERSPECTIVE / TECHNOLOGY: Cost Recovery: The Key to a Sustainable Future (and Budget) for Parks & Rec
Having the right tools in place can help improve cost recovery, enabling parks to offer more to the communities they serve.
inPERSPECTIVE / SPLASH PLAY: Creating Inclusive, Multigenerational Water Playgrounds
Ground sprays make it simple to build an inclusive, multigenerational water play experience.
inSERVICE: Challenging Bias With the Size Inclusive Training Academy
Fitness and exercise can be a minefield for folks in larger bodies, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Web Exclusives
A Playground Grows in the Wake of Grief
After 3-year-old Mitchell Chang drowned in 2018, his parents formed a foundation to keep his joy in the world with an inclusive playground.
Roaring in Memphis
Fans of the NBA Memphis Grizzlies can now enjoy impactful and engaging sound at the team’s multipurpose arena.
From the Editor's Desk
Sandhill Cranes & The Stick Pile
Sometimes it’s essential to do a lot all at once.