Texas Border Business
McAllen, Texas – After months of anguish and evaluation, it has been determined that the Rio Scape Children’s Playpark at the International Museum of Art & Science is scheduled to be demolished. The museum closed it for safety reasons in July 2017. The wood pilings have shown significant rot and deterioration; the platforms were beginning to collapse. It has reached its lifespan of eighteen years and cannot be renovated to its original form.
Built in 2000, Rio Scape involved a workforce of over 3,000 community volunteers organized by the Junior League of McAllen. It was designed in a collaborative with Tom Rockwell, grandson of the infamous American artist, Norman Rockwell as part of the museum’s Capital Campaign “Big Build” project. The 3,000 community volunteers ranged from Junior League members to Rotarians, Police and Fire personnel from the RGV and Reynosa, Mexico, as well as World War II, Korea and Vietnam era veterans who had carpenter skills.
Mike Blum, Rio Scape Assessment Committee Chair states, “I have been a McAllen (resident) for 45 years. In all that time there has never been anything done in McAllen on a volunteer basis that could even close level of effort and community pride. Rio Scape was a pure demonstration of what can happen when a community comes together with the common purpose. The Junior League of McAllen was the catalyst for this endeavor and its leadership is entitled to prominent place in McAllen’s history.”
Jennifer Lewis, Junior League of McAllen sustainer member who also helped build the Rio Scape Play Park, elaborates on the hard-working community of volunteers, “At any given time there were 50-100 people on site, easily. Some people stayed for a few hours and some came and stayed for the entire build. There was an awesome team of boys from the juvenile detention center who moved all the mulch via wheelbarrows. Other teams joined to help through Lee’s Pharmacy, banks, Rotary clubs, news groups, schools, Boys Scouts, sport group teams, high school class teams, and car dealership teams. We were never alone and almost always outnumbered by outside volunteers. The Junior League of McAllen spent the better part of two years working with people to help build, and securing the tools which were lent to the volunteers to actually build the structure. We spoke and met and promoted non-stop until we had requested help from every entity we knew. Every club, every group, every connection, everyone we ever knew! The momentum really took off as we got closer and even more so after the build started with more and more groups, businesses and clubs coming out of the woodwork due to excellent publicity. The City of McAllen ended up stepping up in huge ways and this was actually unexpected but in hindsight no way could we have accomplished what we did without them.”
IMAS President and Executive Director states, “The Rio Scape Play Park has been one of the most sought after exhibits in the museum over the past 18 years. Given we welcome about 30,000 children per year, it would be fair to calculate that over the years, this significant learning through play experience engaged nearly 400,000 children or more if you consider the special children’s events, birthday parties, Star Parties, ‘Back to School Bash’ events and things of that nature. We closed it for safety reasons in July 2017. The wood pilings have shown significant rot and deterioration; the platforms were beginning to collapse. We then began a year- long investigation of the cause of the collapse, and what could be done to rehabilitate the Rio Scape. With the help of the City of McAllen Engineering Department, along with outside professionals, including a discussion with Tom Rockwell, the original designer, and his former colleague, Mr. Mark Leathers, President of Leathers and Associates, it was determined that notwithstanding our wish to rehabilitate the structure, it had reached its lifespan. Given the nature of the wood materials, time and extreme climate conditions here in the Rio Grande Valley, it was in range for reaching its lifespan when compared to similar structures built around the same time. We have been talking with the Junior League of McAllen sustainers who were involved in the build and the museum leadership is investigating a replacement playpark. One of things that we are all committed to envisioning for the IMAS is to provide our children an educational, ‘learning through play’ experience. One of the most unique things about this play park was that children could explore concepts evolving around water, geography, history, sound, language, and engineering. It was an extraordinarily successful project exhibit, and the community sorely misses it since it’s been closed. We would like to rebuild a new play scape that is made of modern materials and that is up to date with ADA standards. A similar type of structure, made of modern materials and ADA compliant would cost upwards of $2 million to have built. We have removed all of the name posts that recognize some of the individuals, organizations and families that so generously gave of their time, talent and treasure to build the Rio Scape back in 2000. A number of the people involved in the build suggest the IMAS sell the posts to help generate start-up funds for a new Rio Scape. Dr. John Gerling has proposed the idea of creating a sculpture for the museum, with each of the names emblazoned in metal. We hope this will help acknowledge, in perpetuity, key families, individuals and organizations who helped make this possible and inspire others on the power of community and the Junior League specifically, on how much joy they made happen for our children. The museum leadership and board are currently considering its strategic and long-range vision for the museum with this in mind. We hope that the Junior Service League of McAllen, given they are our founding organization, will stay involved in the planning process moving forward. Demolition is scheduled to occur in the next few weeks. The museum will keep the public informed of any closures or disruptions to normal operating hours, once more information is available, through its website, media contacts and social media platforms.”
