To serve Tacoma’s Eastside neighborhood, First Creek Park sits at the critical intersection of the Eastside Community Center, First Creek Middle School, regional Pipeline Trail, and Swan Creek Park. Even with all these amenities, the area was lacking a proper space for the community to gather and play outside. Working directly with the Boys and Girls Club and First Creek Middle Schoolers through several rounds of engagement, we envisioned a crossing place, an outdoor informal play space to appeal to kids, teens, and adults. Through funding from the North Face’s Walls Are Meant for Climbing program, the park features two large bouldering walls that bring the sport of climbing to a broader community. The walls evoke the unique geology of the famous climbing walls of the nearby Cascades.