A donated playground waited three years for someone to build it. Now it's where every Sunday ends: kids on the slides, parents gathered close by.
Church: Community Alliance Church
Location: San Pablo, CA
For about three years, Community Alliance Church in San Pablo had a playground and no place to put it. The play structure had been donated to the church, but it sat waiting while the space behind the building stayed what it had always been: old asphalt parking spaces. Hot in the summer, hard underfoot, and no place for kids.
The church had the playground. What it didn't have was someone to build it.
This is our home church. Vanessa directs the children's ministry, and Jose helps plan events and grow the church. When we joined and started talking about what we do for a living, the answer was right in front of us. Honestly, it felt sent from God.
We approached it the same way we approach every backyard we build: start with how the space will be used, then build everything underneath to last. A playground is a place where kids run, climb and fall, so safety and drainage had to be designed in from the first day.
Out with the asphalt. The old parking spaces came out first, broken up and hauled away, down to fresh ground.
A wall to hold it all. We formed and poured a U-shaped concrete retaining wall around the play area, reinforced with rebar on a solid footing. The wall frames the space and holds everything inside it level. Then we backfilled behind it and set drain rock with a French drain, so rain moves out instead of sitting under the play area.
A soft, safe surface. On a compacted base, we installed artificial turf with padding underneath to help cushion falls, finished with infill. It stays green and clean all year with no mud and no mowing.
The playground, finally built. With the ground ready, we assembled and installed the play structure the church had been holding onto for three years, with its slides and climbers.
A railing around the whole area. A metal railing encloses the playground, so parents can relax knowing the kids are inside a safe, defined space.
A place for parents too. We added a bench and seating area right beside the playground, so moms and dads can sit, talk and catch up while they watch their kids play.
The playground changed the atmosphere around the church. It brought people together.
Now it's part of every Sunday. Service ends, families walk out, the kids run straight for the slides, and the parents settle into the seating area to talk and watch them play.
It serves the children's ministry during the week too. On nice days, the kids have somewhere safe to get outside and enjoy the sun.
For us, this one goes beyond a project. It's what we mean when we say we're building community, one yard at a time.
Does your church, school or community space have an area nobody uses?We'd love to hear what you have in mind and help you see what it could become.
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Safety starts underneath. Padding under the turf helps soften falls. It's the part nobody sees and the part that matters most on a playground.
Water has a way out. Drain rock and a French drain behind the wall keep the play area from turning into a puddle after every storm.
A wall that defines the space. The concrete wall holds the play area level and gives it a clean edge, so the playground feels built in, not dropped on a lot.
Room for the grown-ups. A playground gets used when parents are comfortable. The railing keeps kids in, and the seating keeps families around.
Do you build for churches, schools and community spaces? Yes. The same design and build process we use on backyards works for shared spaces, and we're glad to talk through yours.
Is artificial turf safe for kids to play on? Turf over a proper base gives kids a clean, even surface. Here we added padding underneath to help cushion falls under the play structure.
Can you install a play structure we already own? Yes. That's exactly what happened here. We prepared the ground, built the surrounding wall and surface, and installed the church's donated playground.
What happens first? It starts with a conversation. We learn how the space will be used, then move into design and planning.
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