Comments on: PLAYGROUNDS IN THE SKY

By: Yaos

Yaos — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:00:58 +0000

I like the two baseball diamonds facing each other, just hope nobody hits the ball too hard.

By: beagledad

beagledad — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 22:01:06 +0000

I’m curious about that swimming pool that has no apparent support underneath. Folks down below better review their flood insurance.

By: Charlie

Charlie — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 20:30:23 +0000

Scott: My elementary school, P.S 3 in Greenwich village had a wonderful play yard on the second floor. It was was great, though we did occasionally lose our kickballs to the neighbors despite some very high fences.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 18:16:39 +0000

Here in Atlanta there was a pre-school that had a playground on the roof of a low multi-storey building. Darn clever I thought.

By: zakcq

zakcq — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:27:25 +0000

These aren’t that uncommon. NY, Buffalo, Newark, San Francisco all have them. They are especially common at children’s hospitals, which are usually in downtowns or high density areas and have a premium on space, but still need places for children to play. The baseball diamond is a little out there. But a lot of NYC buildings do have basketball courts or tennis courts.

By: Frank

Frank — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 20:47:01 +0000

I think this concept could still work in 2009 if we substituted a shooting range for a baseball diamond.

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 11:53:13 +0000

I doubt this would ever be financially viable. It’s less a playground as an expensive sports club. You’d need a whole slew of them to cover a large city, and access for the kids would not be free. Construction might be technically feasible, but the article ignores the huge running costs, such as staffing and maintenance. Underprivileged youth are hardly going to be able to pay to get in, but the money has to come from somewhere.
Such a structure would also cut out a lot of the sunlight reaching the streets and neighbouring buildings. No one is going to want to live or work next to one.
Finally, it’s an idea for a more innocent time. Today, without some kind of internal policing (at further cost), these places would be subject to vandalism and theft.

By: Rick Auricchio

Rick Auricchio — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:06:23 +0000

The first time someone plunked a foul ball off the roof field would end this idea.