About a dozen parents and children spent their Saturday morning giving shape the the new Golden Gardens play area May 22 at the Golden Gardens Bathhouse where Seattle Parks and Recreation were presenting two potential schemes.

The first scheme for the new play area, which will be located in the field immediately east of the Bathhouse, is called Bubbles. In Bubbles, there are four partial circles of play that are segregated by age group. In the middle of the play area are picnic tables.

In the second scheme, Squid, the play spaces are less broken up. There is a plaza at the east side of the play area where Americans with Disabilities Act parking spaces would be located. Areas of beach grass, logs and rocks separated the play area from parking.

Dean Koonts of HBB Landscape Architecture said comments at the first meeting for the new play area April 7 expressed a desire for seating near play areas, paths separating age groups and proximity to restrooms.

Both Bubbles and Squid schemes are four to five times larger than the current Golden Gardens play area, Koonts said.

In general, residents at the meeting favored the layout of Bubbles but wanted to add the plaza and buffers of sea grass, rocks and logs from the Squid scheme.

After the schemes were introduced, residents and children spread out with comment cards to look at play structure possibilities from five companies.

Seattle Parks and Recreation will have a preferred design for the new Golden Gardens play area, which has a budget of $500,000, ready to present to the public by early July, said Virginia Hassinger, project manager for Parks.

"We'll have a new play area here by next summer," Hassinger said.

The current play area, located by the picnic area, is being replaced because it is small, close to traffic and does not meet current safety standards.

More information on the Golden Gardens playground project, including results from the vote on play equipment, can be found here. Comments can be sent to Virginia Hassinger at virginia.hassinger@seattle.gov. Click image above to view the schemes and the new play area location.