Overview

The City of Santa Ana is the downtown area of Orange County, California, and has three million residents. The nearly perfect climate in this region means the beaches and parks are frequently used. That’s why it was so important to create the universally accessible George Upton All Access Park playground, which features a SpectraPour poured-in-place rubber playground surface.

Key Challenges and Solutions

The George Upton All Access Park playground is located within Carl Thornton Park, a 32.83-acre city park near the intersection of Segerstrom Avenue and Bear Street. The playground was named after George Upton, who worked with the Kiwanis Club in Santa Ana to help create a barrier-free park for children with disabilities. However, after 30 years of use, it was time to upgrade the one-acre play space.

The new and improved George Upton Park playground features multi-age play components for children ages 2 through 12-years-old. The playground can be used by those with disabilities, as well as their parents and caregivers. All playground equipment was provided by Landscape Structures and Coast Recreation. The new playground includes:

• Adaptive swings
• Wheelchair-accessible elements
• Slides
• Spinners
• Climbers 
• Teeter-totter
• Interconnecting ramps and walkways to provide ADA accessible ingress and egress between parking areas and the playground
• Shade structures
• Lighting updates
• Drainage system
• Basketball court resurfacing
• SpectraPour playground surfacing.

SpectraPour is a two-layer system that was mixed, poured, and troweled on-site. It features 1-4mm Tru-Color HP™ High Performance granules and an aliphatic binder in the wear layer. The brightly colored surfaces showcase two custom colors: blue (50% Cobalt Blue & 50% Sky Blue) and green (50% Shamrock Green & 50% Lime Green). The base layer is comprised of a shock-absorbing rubber material. SpectraPour provides ADA access and is IPEMA Certified for head impact protection (ASTM F1292) and wheelchair accessibility (ASTM F1951).

The total cost for the George Upton Park playground was $2,348,619. It was funded by a State of California Natural Resources Agency Grant, Cannabis Public Benefit Fund, General Fund, and money from the Public Works Agency Fiscal Year 2023-24 operational budget for park services.