Security/shade covering for play yard: Best design and bid identified (Activity Report)

OUR PLAY YARD is used for many types of activities: as the preschool’s primary outdoor space, as a venue for Shabbat dinners, as the site of our annual sukkah, as the entryway into our sanctuary for wheelchair users, and more. Whatever approach to a security/shade covering that we install to protect the yard, it needs to be flexible enough to allow for all of those uses. It also needs to be durable, because equipment with a short lifespan is a hassle for our busy staff to deal with.

Awning at the Shalom School in Sacramento

That is why we are going with a slide-wire awning design, from a manufacturer of reliably durable products. 

Yet flexibility and durability do not come cheap. Which is why we now need to raise some donated funds above and beyond the amount of the Federation grant that we were awarded last year.

Below the jump, this post describes the selected design and the winning bid.…

The most common awning designs include a fixed awning or canopy, and a narrow, folding awning that extends out along the face of the building. Those would be easy to install, and fairly inexpensive. Yet they would not meet our needs for flexibility and durability.

Why not fixed shade sails? Removing and reinstalling them is awkward. They are more susceptible to damage during windstorms. We have tried them several times over the years. They actually provide relatively little shade. And they don’t last; they need to be replaced about every year. 

After talking with many awning companies, Violet and Fleming concluded that for us, the shading material needs to not only have broad coverage (20' wide and 30' long, which covers most of the usable play space) but also be retractable.

The slide-wire awning design (a/k/a slide wire cable canopy, cable awning, or Roman shade) is sturdy, while being the least expensive of the retractable systems. 

When fully extended, it will offer protection not only from hostile objects that might be lobbed into that section of the yard, but also from the sun’s rays. 

That being said, it will not provide protection from rain (except for a light drizzle). 

The selected manufacturer, Superior Awning, is a longstanding company, based in Van Nuys. They installed our front awning (on Main Street) in 2007—and it still looks good 18 years later! For the new awning’s Sunbrella fabric, they are offering a 10-year warranty. Its frame will be made of the highest-quality galvanized steel (=hot-dipped and powder coated). It likewise carries a 10-year warranty against the welds coming apart, or the frame warping.