Untraditional bid process and design put park on the Lowcountry map

The City of Charleston Parks and Recreation Department wanted a playground that was a unique addition to the Lowcountry landscape. And the department was willing to facilitate a non-traditional bid process to get it. Deputy Director Matt Compton has learned over his 15 years of park development that you can’t do a competitive bid without eliminating the cost. “So, we took the dollar value out of the evaluation,” explains Compton.

“We asked our vendors who represent the top in the industry to prepare up to three plans to fit our budget. Then, we set cost aside and evaluated the plans solely on aesthetics, services and product quality.”

The plans were for Bee’s Landing Park, a recreational area in Grand Oaks, a planned unit development. A 23-acre park in the center of a future 3,000- unit development, Bee’s Landing is a “destination playground” with a service radius of 3 miles and 14,000 people.

Upon reviewing General Recreation’s plan, Compton recalls it was different and caught their attention. “Their plan offered the community-build project as simply part of the overall project—not an extra line item. This impressed us, as well as the Landscape Structures’ Evos™ and Weevos™ playstructures in the design. After a series of rankings, our votes were unanimous for Gen Rec.”

Compton says the Evos playsystem is a first for Charleston. The playstructure has an excellent curve to it that perfectly complements the curved roof of their gym, which is the recreational area‘s centerpiece.

Compton adds, “The Evos gives us an even larger footprint within the 140- foot by 45-foot playground space. We’re confident that the process we’re taking will maximize the use of our dollars.”

To learn more, contact Gerald Hitch, General Recreation’s Regional Sales Consultant, at 866-304-1062 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .