Marshfield Mall is celebrating the grand opening
of a new farm-themed indoor playground.
The mall and Marshfield Clinic worked together to fund the building of Farmland Playland, a two-story structure for children 6 months to 12 years old that features climbing equipment, bumpers, tunnels, a tube slide and a tractor’s steering wheel.
Marshfield-Mall-welcomes-Farmland-Playland
Written by
Marisa Cuellar News-Herald Media
Marshfield Mall office manager Cindy Gosar said the playground offers a ground-level toddler play area with a small slide, and parents can easily accompany small children into the space.
“I think it adds a lot,” said Chris Weis, who brought his 2-year-old son, Hannon, to the playground. “It gives kids something to do at the mall.”
Gosar said mall executives and clinic leaders originally considered a medical theme for the playground, but decided a barnyard theme would be more exciting.
The mall and clinic wanted to create a place where children could be active, especially during winter, Gosar said.
“There’s nothing like it in Marshfield,” she said.
The playground’s opening on Saturday came in time for Monday’s snow, which Gosar said drew parents and children to the playground in the morning.
“Some kids were crying when they had to leave,” she said.
Sarah Marcott, whose 6-year-old daughter, Lakota, was using the tube slide, said, “The mall needed more things for kids to do.”
Gosar said she hopes the playground, along with recent additions to the food court, will attract families to the mall. She said she envisioned parents allowing their children to use the playground if the children were well-behaved during the shopping trip.
“As a kid, I loved coming to the mall, and we want little ones to have the experience that the mall is fun,” she said.
