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If you have driven down Kickapoo
street, you may have noticed the large pirate ship right next to the
train tracks. If not, grab your keys and get ready for a drive, as
it is a sight to behold.
Situated on the 1000 block of North
Kickapoo Street, this pirate ship is a playground made by David
Salander for his grandkids, Annabelle and Teddy. The ship was a
monumental labor of love, taking about a year to complete. Looking
at the ship up close, one can see the amount of time and detail that
was put into it.
Salander shared that the idea came from Annabelle, who asked him to
make a “pirate car.” “It got me thinking about a pirate ship,”
Salander said. On a trip to Texas to visit family, the idea of the
pirate playground came to him, and he decided to build it. Salander
stated that he looked at pirate playgrounds online, but his problem
was that they all looked like playgrounds. He wanted something that
looked like the genuine article and set out to build the playground
from scratch.
Salander started by getting a boat
from someone in Atlanta for free. The boat had a 12-foot aluminum
hull, and the owner wanted to get rid of it. Salander took it home
and painted it black. He knew that the boat was not going to be
sturdy enough to hold what he wanted to build on top of it. Salander
placed the boat where he wanted to build the playground and drilled
some holes through the bottom of the ship and marked the ground
beneath them. Next, taking an auger, he dug holes in the ground,
poured cement, and placed posts to keep the ship firmly in place.
This was not a solo project.
Salander had help from a friend by the name of Will Smith. Salander
rarely changed things once he decided on them but would very often
add additions as he and Smith were working. He would bounce these
ideas off Smith, and then the pair would get to work.
According to Salander, a lot of the materials they used to build the
ship were reclaimed, sharing that some of the lumber came from a
privacy fence he had previously taken down. Salander made sure to
point out the bell situated at the top of the ship, sharing that it
was his grandfather’s, and something that he had kept for a long
time, with the plan to use it eventually.
While the ship looks like a masterclass in engineering, Salander
does not actually have any official engineering training. He has,
however, spent a lot of his life around engineers. His father was
part of the Army Corps of Engineers, and Salander spent a lot of
time when he was a child working on things with his father.
Additionally, Salander worked near engineers for about two decades.
“I worked for a company that was the largest engineering service
company in the world,” Salander said. “So, I worked right around all
kinds of engineers.”
Salander shared that, while he did
not have the ship fully designed from the moment he started working
on it, he did not immediately jump on a new idea when it came to
him. He would mull the idea over for a while, often sleeping on it
before taking action.
The ship itself is something to
behold. There is a sandbox at the front of the ship, making it seem
as if the boat is docked next to land. There are also decorative
rocks at the front and back of the ship that Salander painted blue,
with streaks of white to mimic ripples on the water. Salander also
used glue to hold the rocks in place.
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There is also a gangway with
handrails for kids to board and disembark the ship. The railing is
not your typical wooden railing. To match the pirate ship theme,
they are made of rope that Salander ran between posts next to the
gangway.
Salander named the ship ‘The
Annabelle.’ He put the name of the ship on the stern in large golden
letters. As to not leave Teddy out, he put the words ‘Captain Teddy’
right above the interior of the ship.
Once the kids board the ship, if
they turn left, they will see the words ‘Captain Teddy’ right above
a door. Opening that door, the kids will go “below deck.” This area
is a small room with benches on the exterior to sit down on, as well
as a treasure chest with plastic treasure inside. There are four
windows in this room that Salander put plexiglass in, as well as
decorative window covers that Salander sourced from Hobby Lobby and
painted gold.
Leaving the room and going back
above deck, kids would then be able to walk straight and ascend a
few steps, to which they could either turn right or left. Turning
right would take them to the bow where they would find a green slide
to go down into the sand below.
Going the other way at the top of
the steps, the kids would ascend one more staircase to get to the
helm. Here, you can oversee the entire ship, turn the wheel of the
boat, and even ring the bell.
Salander says his grandkids love it, and so do people driving by, it
seems. Salander shared that people have stopped in the middle of the
road to look at the ship, sometimes giving him compliments on it as
well.
Pirate ship playground photo slideshow
[Matt Boutcher]
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