Recess! Community Play Boxes

Neil Place

Planted this seed

Chattanooga has great parks, courts, and green spaces that invite people to move, play, and connect outdoors. However, many people arrive at these spaces without the equipment needed to use them. A basketball court without a ball or a field without a frisbee often sits empty even when people are nearby and interested in playing. Maybe they just need a bit of an invitation! This project would install simple community sports gear boxes in selected parks and public recreation areas. Each box would contain shared equipment such as basketballs, soccer balls, frisbees, footballs, jump ropes, and other simple play items. Anyone visiting the park could borrow the equipment during their time there and return it when finished so that others can use it as well....

Create a vintage WPA-era national park poster illustration of a community project in Chattanooga, Tennessee, a National Park City surrounded by mountains, rivers, and forests.

Composition: Vertical 4:5 poster layout. Bold foreground focal element representing the project. Use either a natural landscape or urban environment, depending on the subject.

Title: Recess! Community Play Boxes
Subtitle: National Park City

Typography: National park sans-serif, bold font. Sans serifs feel the pull of the Machine Age. Rough, worn, and perfectly imperfect. The individual letterforms do not strictly abide by all typographic rules, but this intentional imperfection adds to its charm. This typeface feels as if it was drawn by hand, just like the hand lettering in the vintage National Park posters. Just the title and subtitle, NO OTHER TEXT in the graphic.

Focus the composition on the project. "Chattanooga has great parks, courts, and green spaces that invite people to move, play, and connect outdoors. However, many people arrive at these spaces without the equipment needed to use them. A basketball court without a ball or a field without a frisbee often sits empty even when people are nearby and interested in playing. Maybe they just need a bit of an invitation!

This project would install simple community sports gear boxes in selected parks and public recreation areas. Each box would". Location: Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. Resources available: Sports equipment.

Style: WPA-era screenprinted travel poster. Bold graphic composition, simplified shapes, warm earthy color palette, dramatic light and shadow, mid-century screen print texture, minimal detail but strong silhouettes, layered depth, optimistic and heroic tone, clean vector illustration, retro travel poster design, subtle paper grain texture.

Area Geography: Chattanooga is defined by a dramatic transition from flat river basins to towering plateaus. It features sheer granite and sandstone cliff faces (famous for rock climbing) and hidden subterranean wonders like Ruby Falls. Just west of the Great Smoky Mountains, sharing that iconic blue-mist horizon.

Native wildlife and flora: box turtles, white-tailed deer, red-tailed hawks, eastern bluebirds, tulip poplars, dogwoods, rhododendrons, and mountain laurel.

Activities: Pick activities relevant to the project. People here enjoy mountain biking, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, paddleboarding, trail running, fishing, rollerblading, white water rafting, and community gardening. Weave relevant activities and local nature into the scene.

City life: Chattanooga's urban core is compact, walkable, and layered — historic brick warehouses, Art Deco civic buildings, modern glass infill, pedestrian bridges, riverfront paths, and steep green bluffs all within a small footprint.

Flora & Water: The landscape is carpeted in dense deciduous forests of oak, hickory, and tulip poplars. No pine trees. Hidden in the folds of the rolling hills are moss-covered rolling brooks, limestone swimming holes, and tiered waterfalls that spill over rocky ledges.

Typography: National park sans-serif, bold font. Sans serifs feel the pull of the Machine Age. Rough, worn, and perfectly imperfect. The individual letterforms do not strictly abide by all typographic rules, but this intentional imperfection adds to its charm. This typeface feels as if it was drawn by hand, just like the hand lettering in the vintage National Park posters. Just the title and subtitle, no other text in the graphic.

Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States

This would be for anyone who wants to get out and play! Neighborhood youth, families, park visitors, students, etc.

Gardeners

Neil Place
JK Willis
Jeb Bennett

Roots

The True Athlete Project(not committed yet)
Kind Hearts Community(not committed yet)
Grateful Sports(not committed yet)
Be the Change Youth Initiative(not committed yet)
Chattanooga Parks & Outdoors(not committed yet)

Fertilizer

Sports equipment

Water

Storage boxes (materials to build)
More sports equipment
Volunteers
Installation materials
Park permission

Budget

This would likely cost $500-$800 per box, so for 4-6 parks/public use spaces to start we would be looking at $2000-$4800.

Obstacles

One challenge is maintaining the equipment and ensuring the boxes remain stocked over time. To address this, the project could involve nearby community organizations, volunteers, or neighborhood groups who help periodically check the boxes and replenish equipment when needed. Another obvious and inevitable challenge will be equipment loss or damage. However, many community sharing initiatives find that when resources are clearly designated as community assets and placed in active public spaces, people tend to respect and care for them. And again, some equipment will inevitably be lost or damaged, but that is a small trade for creating parks that are more active, welcoming, and accessible for everyone.

Community Insights

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David J.12d ago

Do you have a demo box?

David J.18d ago

Wonderful idea. My organization may also be able to provide funding for this, as a way of activating underutilized public spaces.

Neil P.Seed Creator7d ago

Wonderful, thank you! We don't have a demo box yet, but will hopefully be putting something together soon.

Sunlight (7 supporters)

Abigail E.Hope H.David J.Rachel M.Kyle W.Sian S.

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