Technical Precision at Legacy Park, Lethbridge

The development of Lethbridge’s Legacy Park was a venture of immense scale. The City, seeking the most stunning design possible commissioned a reputable landscape architect to oversee the full scope of the project, and wanting to reduce creative barriers, requested every component be the best representation from the entire playground industry, even if that meant having no less than 9 different playground manufacturers represented on the site, with one general contractor to be selected to oversee it all.

We had the priveledge of partnering with the winning bidder, filling design holes throughout the space that other manufacturers were unable to accomodate due to the custom nature of the space - providing a custom accessible horshoe berm railing and bridge combination, hill climbing ropes, hill climbing rocks, hill climbing webs, a hill slide, and the installation of most of the other equipment - a valuable experience that later helped lead to the development of our SteelCore Rope Systems product line.

The Challenge - Safety Compliance
However, the challenge was that by introducing so many playground suppliers in one space, no single supplier could take responsibility to certify the playspace design. This, unfortunately left the job of coordinating safety compliance to the general contractor, who needed to be someone disconnected enough from the playground industry that all the manufacturers would be willing to sell to them (a common issue in a large-project based industry like this one is companies unwillingness to sell to their competitors).

The central tower arrived from Kompan several months later than they had anticipated, and the park was already completed when it arrived. When we were given the installation instructions and called out to install the structure, we immediately noticed that the design hadn't taken into account the No-Encroachment Zone required by the CSA Z614-20 standard, since the CAD blocks that had beeen provided used the European standards. Again, this was not a straightforward discovery because the design was a coordination between city officials, the landscape architect, and the general contractor, with the playground suppliers themselves largely disconnected from the full design scope.

Within 24 hours of the discovery, we had coordinated a modification plan that all the stakeholders could agree to: remove one smaller slide and some offshoot playpanels, and with some final tweaks, we could fit it into the site with inches to spare. We used our accelerometer based measuring tools to create a CAD drawing of the site, right from the site, then massaged the design, making minor modifications until it fit.

The installed version worked out perfectly, again, with inches to spare, and the multistorey spiral tube slide no-enchroachment zone narrowly missing the protective surfacing zone of the surrounding features.

The Stainless Steel Retrofit: An Engineering Necessity
About a year after the park opened, a new challenge emerged. The 20-foot-high plastic spiral tube slide began to show significant stress cracks. Upon inspection, we noted a shortfall in the original manufacturer’s engineering—the plastic walls were only about 1/8" thick. In the high-UV, high-wind environment of the Canadian Prairies, this material was simply under-engineered for the task.

When the original manufacturer declined the warranty claim, the City turned to BDI for a permanent solution. We proposed a brand-agnostic stainless steel slide retrofit. The project required extreme 3D modeling prowess; we needed to manufacture a slide that would hit every single existing support post with zero margin for error.

The transition from plastic back to the shimmering metallic finish originally envisioned for the park sparked a lively debate among Lethbridge residents. Local social media was rife with concerns about the heat, with one memorable resident suggesting that children would go in one end and "fried chicken nuggets" would come out the other.

As summer hit, the "Nugget Theory" was quickly put to rest. The orientation ensured the tower itself provided shade during the most intense afternoon heat, and because the interior sliding surface is shielded by the tube, it remained cool to the touch. In fact, the stainless steel improved the experience significantly; the light-reflective interior turned a formerly dark tunnel into a bright, space-age adventure.

The most impressive part about the result was the sliding experience. The original slide, being comprised of large corner sections fastened together, bumped and tossed the user as they went down the pitch-black slide interior. However, with our stainless-steel solution, we were able to reconstruct the trajectory in a perfect sweep, transitioning it an ultra-fast, bright, and smooth glide down to the bottom. We also intentionally increased the steepness, pushing the limits of what the CSA Z614 standard allows, making it the fastest, smoothest, and funnest playground slide many of us have ever been on.

A Quick Breakdown of Specifics

Results That Shine
The Legacy Park Stainless Steel Slide Retrofit is now one of the park’s most striking features. This "monstrosity" of a slide (in the best way possible) that draws the eye to the center of the playground. It serves as a reminder that while plastic has its place, certain heights and climates demand the uncompromising strength of stainless steel.

At BDI, we don't just sell components; we provide the engineering rescues and material upgrades that keep North American parks safe and spectacular.