Leathers and Associates

Leathers and Associates is an Ithaca-based family-owned playground construction company, best known for having coordinated community-led construction of large wooden playground parks in many towns across the United States during the 1980s and 1990s.

A typical example of the community-built wooden playground complexes associated with Leathers and Associates. This one is located in Dormont, Pennsylvania.

History

Robert ("Bob") Leathers founded Leathers and Associates in the early 1980s after he had coordinated about five playground construction projects in the 1970s, starting with Ithaca. Over the next couple decades, Leathers and Associates oversaw the construction of over 2,000 playgrounds, mostly in the United States, but also in Israel and Australia.[1]

Leathers's playground projects quickly gained national attention. In 1982, The Washington Post called the unique approach to playgrounds a "burgeoning movement."[2] In 1986, a Leathers playground was featured in an episode of the popular PBS children's television program Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.[3][1] In 1989, the Chicago Tribune referred to Bob Leathers as "the guru of contemporary playground design."[4]

In later years, Leathers and Associates was faced with growing safety and upkeep complaints concerning their older playgrounds. After Leathers' son Marc took ownership of the company in the 2005, Leathers and Associates transitioned away from an exclusive focus on community building projects and towards paid contract work.[1]

Community playgrounds (1980s–1990s)
A Leathers playground in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, built in 1997 and renovated in 2013.

Construction process

The Leathers and Associates community playgrounds were largely paid for by fundraising. In 1989, a typical project cost between $10,000 and $60,000, with Leathers and Associates receiving $1,500 to $9,500.[5] Construction was preceded by a planning process during which children in the community were asked to produce essays and drawings expressing their ideas and desires for the new playground.[6][7] Leathers and Associates would advise and oversee the fundraising and planning process, while actual construction would be accomplished by a team of volunteers, usually over a period of four days.[2]

Features

The characteristic feature of Leathers and Associates community playgrounds was a near-exclusive reliance on wood as the building material. Projects ranged in size from schoolyard playgrounds to 1.5-acre community park complexes.[5] Playgrounds often included non-traditional features such as castles, drawbridges, child-sized wooden tunnels, PVC pipe "walkie-talkies," and tire swings,[1][4] and often incorported recycled objects, such as telephone poles, tires, and barrels.[2]

Subsequent issues

Communities with Leathers playgrounds from this time period have been faced with concerns over liability issues, inaccessibility for children with disabilities, and the need to meet increasing government safety regulations.[1][8] At the time when the community playgrounds were being built, the wood being used was routinely treated with chromated copper arsenate, a compound subsequently banned because of the risk of arsenic leakage.[9] Communities have faced expensive costs related to upkeep, restoration, replacement, or disassembly.[10][11][12]

References
  1. Weiner, Sophie (December 29, 2015). "If you remember this playground, your childhood was awesome". Hopes & Fears. Archived from the original on January 25, 2016.
  2. Brooker, Betsy (June 14, 1982). "The Playground's the Thing". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  3. "Making and Creating". Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Episode 1506. February 7, 1986. PBS.
  4. Dailey, Pat (July 23, 1989). "Child's Play". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020.
  5. Wright, Lili (March 12, 1989). "Playground Divides Adults in Westport". New York Times. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018.
  6. Churchman, Deborah (September 5, 1986). "Playgrounds to Test the Mind and Body". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  7. "Back in Time: Oct 28". Plainview Herald. October 26, 2020.
  8. Clouser, Elise (November 14, 2019). "Council endorses Shevans Park remodel". Carteret County News-Times.
  9. "Playground kingdoms' upkeep can cost a princely sum". The Dallas Morning News. June 14, 2013.
  10. Mann, Damian (December 28, 2015). "Wooden playground eyed for restoration". Mail Tribune.
  11. O’Brien, Barbara (November 11, 2014). "Hamburg deciding what to do with popular wooden playground". The Buffalo News. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  12. Bain, Kaitlin (November 20, 2020). "Port Neches charting new course for Tugboat Island". The Beaumont Enterprise.

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