Featured Commercial Playground Projects

Barrs Recreation has brought Play That Moves You to many areas in North and South Carolina. Check out some of our projects below to learn more about the work we do.

Kid Mountain Playground - Burnsville, North Carolina

Tucked into the mountains of Yancey County, North Carolina, and framed by sweeping views of Mount Mitchell, Kid Mountain Playground is more than a destination — it’s a play experience like no other. A celebration of movement, music, inclusion and nature, this playspace invites people of all ages and abilities to gather, explore and belong.

The vision for this playground was born from both beauty and hardship. When severe flooding reshaped parts of the county, the community came together — not just to rebuild, but to design something better. Kid Mountain Playground was already planned but the playspace became more meaningful when the floods took every other playground in the county. Kid Mountain Playground provided a beacon of hope to a county left without a place to play, unwind and find community. Designed with care, influenced by the natural environment and grounded in the belief that public space should elevate everyday life, Kid Mountain Playground helped Yancey County find fun and hope in a trying time.

Here in this space, movement is fun and intuitive. A gently sloping, creative, poured-in-place path guides you through the space and toward experiences that spark play — from multiuser swings and sensory rails to quiet areas that encourage reading and socializing.

When a space is designed for extended visits, comfort is paramount. Kid Mountain Playground delivers with sweeping shade structures, intuitive pathways and comfortable seating that invites everyone to stay and visit, read or reflect. It’s a place designed for connections, a place where families linger, caregivers feel at ease and every user is supported.

McKinney Park - Woodruff, South Carolina

When the City of Woodruff wanted something unlike anything else in the county, they had a directive everyone could get behind: Make it cool. Make it fun. Make it inclusive. The result is a Burke playspace of epic proportions!

Since the grand opening, families from across the county have made McKinney Park their playground of choice, discovering what Woodruff already knows: The best community spaces are the ones where everyone — kids and adults alike — can't resist joining the fun. Proof that when you combine serious height with serious play value, you create something worth celebrating again and again.

Kiwanis Family Park - Sanford, NC

Apex Community Park - Apex, NC

Apex Community Park is a sprawling 160-acre space that features every sort of outdoor activity from fishing and kayaking to soccer, volleyball, tennis and baseball fields to playgrounds for all ages. Even with all the activities, they were lacking a space where families, friends, teams and classes could meet to workout together. Enter ELEVATE^® Fitness Course, an exciting way to gain and maintain fitness, train and just enjoy time outside with friends, family and neighbors. Adding ELEVATE to the already thriving space at Apex Community Park created even more of destination for Apex residents and surrounding communities. John Brown – Director of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources in Apex said, “There is no question that adding an ELEVATE Fitness Course helped us to create a destination not only for residents of Apex, but for surrounding communities too.”

Stoner Thomas School - Lexington, NC

Challenges create opportunities and Stoner-Thomas School in Lexington, NC turned the challenge of a playground that didn't meet the needs of their special population into the opportunity to provide an inclusive playspace that engages a wide-range of ages and abilities and provides learning, development and socialization for all. Creating a complete play experience that helps all children develop means including the four areas of development: Sensory, Motor, Cognitive and Social/Emotional.

Beginning with accessible surfacing, Stoner-Thomas used a variety of play equipment to enhance the experiences of all children with ramps leading to exciting play events like the Cruiser Wheelchair Rocker and engaging panels such as the Drum and Car Control Panels. With other play panels throughout the space, children will stay engaged and socialize with each other.

Swinging is a childhood staple and very calming to many children in the Stoner-Thomas School population. Including both standard swings and the Freedom Inclusive Swing Seat that is specially designed to provide comfort extra support for children with limited core and upper body strength. This allows all children to experience the developmental benefits of swinging, including vestibular and imaginative play.

Climbing and sliding are also important components of an inclusive playspace and this playground has both! Children can build upper and lower body strength while climbing to the platforms and slide down for increased balance and motor planning.

Play builds community, whether at a school, park or neighborhood play area. When we all play together, everyone benefits from greater development, empathy and learning and we create a community of sharing and inclusivity.

Mulberry Park - Shallotte, NC

The Town of Shallotte’s 10-acre Mulberry Park will be a more active play space thanks to Rachel Johnson, the Parks & Recreation and Business Promotional Coordinator for the Town of Shallotte! Rachel is the Grand Prize winner of the Great Play Giveaway, presented by Parks & Recreation Business and Camp Business Magazine. The Burke Intensity® playground she won includes all new play events from our fitness product line, which is designed to challenge and exercise children’s bodies while they play. A selection of climbers, spinners and overhead events make up this active and fun playground for families to enjoy while spending time together outdoors!

“Playgrounds and parks can play an important role in providing a space for families to gather and get much-needed time outdoors,” said Michael Phelan, president and CEO of BCI Burke Company. “We are so happy to be able to partner with Northstar Publishing, Inc. and provide a deserving community with a playground that will provide hours of enjoyment,” Michael added.

Rachel is excited to be able to help the Town of Shallotte get the park they hoped for! “I truly can’t express how thankful we are here at the Town of Shallotte and this couldn’t have come at a better time for us! We’ve been trying to figure out how we were going to fund the playground in our new park to the extent we wanted and winning this contest helps us create our dream playspace,” she said.