Every 2.5 minutes, another child is injured on playground equipment in the United States, and between 15 and 20 children on average die every year as a result of playground injuries. Playground equipment manufacturers and playground owners have come a long way when it comes to safety, but there’s still more work to be done to raise the national bar on playground safety.

Aquatic facility directors have their bases covered when it comes to providing the most sought-after amenities. But when it comes to programming, there’s still work to be done. With most facilities already offering ample opportunities to get wet for the under-18 crowd, it’s time to develop new approaches to get grownups back in the pool.

Everyone wants to provide the programs people will enjoy—and that goes double for activities that meet a true need. But how do you know what those are? Before getting in over your head, have a look at some examples and ideas from successful facilities and experts across the United States.

The 107-year-old newly renovated Smith Memorial Playground and Playhouse has passed the test of time, with more than a thousand children per day still visiting its 6-acre wooded parkland, 44-foot wooden slide and mansion-like playhouse.

The Adventure Recreation Center and its Outdoor Adventure Center offer students an alternative athletic experience, with 4,000 square feet of climbing surfaces, indoor turf fields and sport courts, and other amenities.

Grizzly Jack’s Grand Bear Resort & Indoor Waterpark opened in 2006 just down the road from Starved Rock State Park. Features include a 24,000-square-foot indoor waterpark as well as an indoor carnival with nine full-sized rides.

Parks and accessible open space are necessary for human development. But what are the keys of good park design? Here are the key aspects to consider when designing a park.

As more people get involved in strength training, the equipment must evolve to meet their needs. We take a look at what’s new in strength-training equipment for the most innovative fitness facilities.

There are many things to consider when designing a running track, but its worst enemy is a flooded surface, which over time can cause major damage. Surface drainage systems can isolate the track to carry away storm water, eliminate ponding and protect the track from runoff and debris.

From public pools to university natatoriums to indoor waterparks, the aquatic world is a vast and teeming ocean of diverse and unique facilities, amenities and program offerings. In this special supplement, we fish out the most important information to help you run your facility. Whether you’re planning a new facility, adding water play features or just need to perform daily maintenance and reduce risk for your existing pool, we cover it all in this guide to the life aquatic.

With die-hard older fans as well as new kids on the ramp, skateboarding’s popularity is definitely not waning. What better way to get kids off the couch and into the open air than to provide them with skating facilities? We look at what’s new and what’s tried and true in skateparks.

Who knew there were so many options when it comes to sports fields and grounds? We look at the benefits and drawbacks of both synthetic and natural turf, then turn to maintenance issues. How can you prevent overuse and decrease the wear and tear on your fields? From choosing a turf type to maintaining what you’ve got, we cover lots of ground to get your grounds up to speed.

What is safety, and how important is it to your facility? From your staff members to your own desk, there are many perspectives on enhancing safety, and we’ll look at them all to help you decide how best to protect your patrons from harm.

Just 10 minutes from the heart of Charlotte, N.C., lies the U.S. National Whitewater Center, which offers the thrills of rapids, chutes, dips and ends for kayakers, canoeists and rafters in the world’s largest manmade whitewater river.

With solar panels, composting toilets, vegetated roof and much more, the new Visitors Center at Sweetwater Creek State Park shows how a team committed to sustainable design can create a building that goes beyond anyone’s expectations.

This facility for teens has already earned a design and construction award, and is attracting throngs of teenagers searching for a safe, well-managed place to enjoy their generation’s unique genres of sports, music and socializing.

Climbing walls have been growing in popularity, taking off from the days when they were only used by hard-core enthusiasts to their current presence in parks, playgrounds and rec centers across the country. This column considers the new audiences for climbing walls to help you bring more people to your facility.

Locker rooms and restrooms may not always be glamorous, but these crucial components are often overlooked when it comes to planning and maintenance. If you neglect these areas, they can quickly become targets for vandals. Here’s what you need to know to reduce vandalism in your facility.

A major part of marketing your facility is creating a "brand"—no matter how informal. But this can go far beyond the visual logos and taglines to include multi-sensory experiences for your patrons.

There’s never a shortage of people who want to get fit, but workout options are constantly changing. We take a look at the latest and greatest in the workout world to help you decide what to add—or keep—at your fitness facility.

Your scoreboard might not be your top concern when outfitting your sporting venue, but it’s important to remember that all eyes will be on this crucial piece of equipment. Here’s how to keep spectators entertained while keeping track of scores and seconds.

To create a recreational space suited for all seasons, you need to consider everything from your geographical location to the programming you offer. Ultimately, your four-season facility should let in the light and get patrons to play year-round.

In the neighborhood of Koreatown around Seoul International Park, kids no longer dream of playing baseball year-round—they live their dreams on the seventh Dodgers Dream Field. This $1.2 million renovation included installation of a long-lasting, low-maintenance synthetic turf field.

Owners of mountaintop gold courses face a common dilemma: getting water to flow uphill. For the owner of the remote Primland Resort, the solution included a pipeline and four pump stations. But another problem quickly arose: building a cost-effective structure to house the pump stations.

At Crystal Lake Campground, just outside of Madison, campers not only can choose from traditional campsites, but also A-frames, duplexes, mobile homes, cabins in the woods and a series of unique beachfront structures that provide a memorable camping experience—yurts.

Who’s coaching your youth sports teams? How much do you really know about your volunteer coaches? NRPA, in partnership with three expert consultants, has developed a program to provide park districts and leagues the tools needed to perform national background checks on potential volunteers and give them proper training and identification.

Destination parks offer a little bit of something for everyone, and enhance the well-being of the entire community. Providing a place where all can play unites the community and helps everyone get fit.

The spa business is the fourth largest leisure industry in the United States, with more than $11 billion in annual revenues. If you’re thinking about adding a spa, make sure that a well-thought-out plan for a successful launch is already in place.

At least half of the recreational indoor pool facilities in North America are not delivering healthy indoor air quality. Recreation managers should know that proper indoor air quality requires a synergy between the building envelope, the air distribution, dehumidification equipment and water chemistry.

The choices can seem endless when selecting park and play components, but there are helpful approaches to investigating the options and making the best selections. We take a look at the must-know-now information you need to design an attractive and inviting space.

Indoor climbing walls have helped catapult climbing’s popularity as a sport, with 9 million so-called urban climbers in the United States alone. Getting new climbers interested now means targeting kids with your marketing plan—bringing teens and tweens into the facility.

No matter how much fun your patrons have at your pool, splash play area or waterpark, you know that ensuring their safety is serious business. We cover critical issues in aquatic safety and risk management.

This $12.2 million, state-of-the-art recreation center was designed with extensive community input and is a mainstay of the town’s core. People of all ages and skills can now take advantage of their town’s first rec center, which includes a pool, gym, aerobics rooms and dedicated gymnastics area.

Former All-Star NBA player Dee Brown is now sharing his basketball expertise with young players. He opened The EDGE basketball training facility in Orlando to teach the fundamentals of the game to young players and give them access to top-notch coaches and professional-caliber equipment.

With a new polygon fabric structure erected over its existing swimming pool, The Courthouse Fitness Facility in Jackson, Miss., can now provide year-round swimming to its members.

Turnover is a hot issue in fitness facilities. In this guest column, IHRSA talks to experts across the industry for a view of staffing issues and how to reduce turnover.

Still offering the same humdrum staples at your concession operation? Learn how to expand your concession—with little investment and virtually no effort—to keep customers coming back for more.

If you have water quality issues in your lakes and ponds, it might help to learn more about the components that impact the delicate balance of the pond ecosystem; light and temperature, nutrients, and oxygen.

How can recreation facilities compete with TV, videogames and other couch-riding activities to get kids onto ballfields and into rec rooms to participate in team sports and other activities? The short answer: Market to your audience.

The ballots are in, and we've selected the top winners of our fifth annual design awards competition. We're proud to showcase those facilities here—from brand-new to recently renovated, from family aquatic centers to youth centers to university recreation centers and beyond. Read on to see how these top facilities are raising the bar for recreation, sports and fitness facilities across America.

Winners

Editor's Choice Winner

Highlights

We also are delighted to showcase the following facilities that were submitted to us and sponsored by the firm that entered them:

Metal building systems have been used in the recreation industry for years. Whether a new facility, a renovation or an addition, steel can offer owners safe, structurally solid and energy-efficient facilities.

When it comes time to deliver the best synthetic turf field for your patrons, the devil really is in the details. Careful evaluation is key to making the most appropriate selection.

Play is recognized as a fundamental right of every child by the United Nations, yet this right is challenged worldwide. Here are some reasons why kids need play.

We asked nearly 2,000 professionals from across the industry about their experience with facility operations, staffing, programming, building and much more. Here, we summarize the results from all facility types.

In this section, we consider trends in recreation, fitness and sports facilities from a regional perspective. Learn which region is expecting the most growth in usage of its facilities, and which is planning more synthetic fields than the others.

With urban facilities offering more indoor options, rural communities providing more outdoor options, and suburban communities offering a little bit of everything, it’s easy to see that trends in managed recreation differ from town to town, and city to city.

Parks and recreation departments build our communities, connecting people of all ages, ethnicities and backgrounds with opportunities for recreation, leisure, fitness, education and much more. Read on to learn more about what trends are having the greatest impact on these facilities.

One industry expert likened the increasing number of outstanding recreation facilities on college campuses to an arms race. We take a look at major trends affecting campus recreation and tap industry experts for their interpretation of the top issues reported in our survey.

At schools across the country, recess and physical education are being sacrificed, and the ever-growing problem of childhood obesity is becoming a growing concern. This section of the report explores the trends in sports, recreation and fitness among schools.

With the prevalence of obesity increasing at an alarming rate, we turn to YMCAs, health clubs and other fitness-related facilities to provide lifetime solutions to getting more active. Here, we consider some of the major trends in these facilities, including major differences between nonprofit YMCAs and for-profit health clubs.

Choosing the right surface for your sports field, facility or playground is like buying a new car. There are shiny and sleek products on the market, but the real test is making sure you get what you paid for, as well as a product that will last. The options may be overwhelming, but a little research and a lot of careful planning can ensure you get the most play out of your surface.

Forward-thinking recreation managers have made playgrounds ground zero in the winnable war against childhood obesity. We offer tips for creating the perfect place for daily physical activity, giving kids a free place to run, jump and build muscle.

With the public’s perception of the ice rink limited to winter use, it can be difficult to ensure a rink is self-sustaining, let alone profitable. We consider some strategies to get more of the right skaters onto the ice.

The Sports Club/LA in Orange County offers a junior Olympic size pool, but cloudy water was causing customer complaints. Saline chlorination offered a solution.

The 82-acre Techny Park and Prairie in Northbrook, Ill., provides a one-stop recreation shop for residents, with a large range of amenities, from sports fields to an educational trail.

The Bronx Zoo has been educating and entertaining visitors since 1999, with a strong focus on environmental conservation that even extends to its restrooms.

Managers of recreational facilities must implement training and procedures to prevent the key unique risks associated with aquatic venues. Advances continue to be made to minimize these risks. Prevention is paramount.

If you have not yet implemented a scheduling and management system at your facility, there are a variety of key items for you to consider as you begin the selection process.

Recreational water illness has been a hot topic this year. We consider some solutions for destroying germs and keeping them out of commercial aquatic facilities.

Welcome to our annual Problem-Solver Guidebook. Packed with scores of ideas, this tool will help you tackle your most persistent and universal challenges. Scroll through the stories to discover straightforward tips to help address your facility’s problems.

Selecting a shelter or a shade structure goes well beyond knowing the most popular building types and how they’ll suit your site. Learn how some facilities are using these structures to meet the needs of some pretty special patrons.

Providing a place for patrons to gather and play after dark means installing lighting that not only helps them feel safe, but also truly makes them safe. Learn how smart lighting design choices can not only protect patrons, but also can protect our night-time views of the starry skies.

With more parks and recreational facilities focusing on sustainable design than ever, we take a look at some of the ways green approaches to running a facility can translate into reduced operational costs.

Miami University needed a smart solution to allow for indoor tennis practice. Find out how the school’s athletes are top performers on and off the court—inside and out.

At the height of the Christmas shopping season, you can find all the typical sights in downtown San Jose, Calif., from carolers and bustling shoppers to ice-skaters wearing light jackets. Learn more about how the city keeps an ice rink running in its less-than-wintry climate.

While brand-new aquatic complexes may be popping up across the country, one Chicago suburb is preserving its past while its aquatics center steps squarely into the 21st century.

With attendance at public golf courses falling in recent years, one city’s facilities have managed to bring the public back to the greens.

With your feet firmly planted on terra firma, a challenge course can look pretty, well, challenging. It’s important to remember that the physical course is only part of the story—ensuring facilitator quality is equally, if not more, important.

Variety, flexibility and economy are the key ingredients in the recipe for skatepark success. Learn how a truly modular skatepark system can provide the right combination for most municipalities.

If communities could organize their schools, recreation and sports programming to teach scientifically proven skills in self-control, we could go a long way to reducing many of society’s ills.

Advances in chemical automation, development of new disinfection methods and better education on water chemistry problems have simplified the aquatic facility manager’s job, while providing safer water to swimmers.

Colleges face tough competition when it comes to recruiting the best and brightest. While cutting-edge academics are key, a key to putting one’s best face forward is a well-designed recreation facility.

A rectangular pool with a diving board and a deep end is no longer enough. These days, municipal aquatic centers are learning from the big trends at commercial waterparks, and are adapting those lessons to their smaller facilities. Learn how you can stay on top of these aquatic trends.

Society’s eating habits are constantly evolving, and concession operators ignore those changes at their own financial peril. With a little flexibility and creativity, your stand can offer a little something for everyone.

The importance of recreation to development has gained plenty of recognition—and that means providing recreation for everyone. We take a look at ways to ensure your recreational programming is as inclusive as possible for all populations—including those with disabilities.

As part of its enormous Recreation and Physical Activity Center (RPAC) project, Ohio State added state-of-the-art swimming facilities for athletes and non-athletes alike.

When it came time to rebuild a community-built playground in this seaside resort, everyone got behind a new, more accessible play area.

Golf is a fun game where kids of all ages can learn valuable life lessons. Unfortunately, accessibility to the game is traditionally limited to very few. The GCBAA Foundation aims to change all that with its Sticks for Kids program.

Found throughout the United States and around the world, solar pool heating systems provide cost-effective pool heating for thousands of commercial users each year.

Fitness is going global, thanks to technology. Learn about some ways your facility can build a connection for members.

Public restrooms, locker rooms and shower rooms have specific ADA requirements, and ensuring compliance is simply good for business.

Hard-core fitness users have come to expect a sophisticated experience, and fitness facilities have stepped up to offer the equipment and programming they demand. But a growing demographic of exercise newbies are challenging the notion of what fitness facilities should provide.

We often take our surroundings for granted, but well-designed landscapes can help us tune back in. Through preservation, cultural planning and innovative landscape design, we can design parks that help patrons connect with their environment, whether it’s the backdrop of a city skyline or a rural stream.

Restroom facilities may seem like a necessary evil, but you should remember that the number of people using your facility for recreation can be heavily influenced by the availability of a well-designed restroom. From durability and vandal-resistance to downright attractiveness, we consider all the elements of good restroom structures.

When a mom and her daughters saw a boy with special needs relegated to the back of the playground, they asked why he couldn’t play with other kids. They helped bring their community together to ensure all kids a place to play.

When a park is too hot to play in from March through November, you know it’s time for a smart solution. Adding shade helped get kids out of the sun, and into the park.

As more demands are placed on sports fields and more events are programmed, the fields suffer, the staff suffers and, in the end, the players suffer. Here are some strategies to help avoid all that suffering and ensure your fields remain playable.

These days, fitness on campus means entering a spacious, expansive center that offers far more than a simple cardio or weight machine workout. Increasingly, fitness centers on campus have evolved to offer a more holistic health and wellness experience.

Aquatics have evolved over the years, and zero-depth entry, interactive water play and competitive swimming are now part of the lexicon. Family aquatic centers have evolved along with them to become a new way of life.

As fighting continues to rage in the aquatics war against recreational water illnesses (RWIs), it’s time to bring new recruits to the front lines. While operators of aquatic facilities must play a role, it’s important to get all key players on board to truly make headway against this tenacious enemy.