Gronk to spike ball forever in rebuilt Esplanade playground

DCR last week unveiled designs for the Gronk Playground it will be installing on the Esplanade - centered around a slide meant to immortalize the way Gronk used to spike a football after a touchdown.

The playground will replace the current generic playground next to the Alfond Spray Deck across Storrow Drive from the "If You Lived Here" apartments and will be ADA compliant, DCR says. It's named after Gronk because he donated some $1.2 million for the playground upgrade.

The exterior panels of the spiked-football slide will feature "inspirational quotes" from athletes, DCR says.

The Spike slide seen head on:

The playground will also include a 40-yard dash area and a "Gronk High 5 Low 5" board that features a life-sized visage of the 6'6" fully extending one arm up and another down, along with a ruler that goes up to the 8 feet he can reach. Kids who can't reach his raised hand can instead give him a low 5 on the other hand.

Other parts of the playground, which will have areas for both younger and older kids, will pay homage to other things Boston is known for, including smaller slides for younger kids coming off an elevated play area shaped like a Duck Boat and a "bridge climber" shaped like the Zakim Bridge:

Plans call for the preservation of two existing elm trees on the site. The main playground features will be placed away from the trees' root zones and any work near them will be done by hand to minimize any potential damage to them. Five new shade trees will be planted.

DCR says it has approval from state waterfront regulators, the Boston Conservation Commission and the Massachusetts Historical Commission for the renovation.

Overall playground design (trees not shown):

The Boston Sun has more details.