Project team members from AO, Lauritzen Gardens, and Waters Edge traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, earlier this month to accept a Leading Edge Award for Hager Family Springs at Sofia’s Play Garden during the opening ceremony of the 46th Annual World Waterpark Association Symposium & Trade Show (WWA Show). The award honors teams for creativity in developing new themes, facilities, programs, services, or operational concepts within the water attractions industry.
Congratulations to the team behind Hager Family Springs at Sofia’s Play Garden! By bringing interactive waterplay, environmental education, and sustainability into a botanical garden, this innovative project proves aquatic experiences can make an impact in unexpected places.
Lauritzen Gardens in Omaha, Nebraska, opened Sofia’s Play Garden in May 2025. Named for donors Polina and Bob Schlott’s daughter, the new children’s garden features 13 educational activity areas, including a plant petting zoo, a building area, indoor and outdoor classrooms, treehouses, and more!
Hager Family Springs, the garden’s waterplay area, is packed with interactive features, including manual water pumps and buildable mini wooden dams. These hands-on features encourage creative play and collaboration, whether kids are manipulating water flow, racing rubber ducks, pumping water into buckets, or simply splashing.
Water that cycles through the Springs is captured in a series of ponds and wetlands and ultimately flows into a greywater system for irrigation. This innovative water-recycling approach sets the Springs apart from traditional splash pads, offering a real-world demonstration of resource stewardship that complements Lauritzen Gardens’ broader focus on environmental conservation and sustainability.
Congratulations to Lauritzen Gardens and the entire project team. Sofia’s Play Garden and Hager Family Springs are shining examples of what many talented individuals can accomplish through collective effort.
Sofia’s Play Garden Project Team
- The Architectural Offices – Omaha, Nebraska
- Chalk Site Design – Omaha, Nebraska
- Daedalus Construction – Omaha, Nebraska
- Emspace + Lovgren – Omaha, Nebraska
- Endicott Clay Products – Endicott, Nebraska
- McKay Landscape Lighting – Omaha, Nebraska
- MONSTRUM – Copenhagen, Denmark
- Morrissey Engineering – Omaha, Nebraska
- NEON – United Kingdom
- Outdoor Recreation Products – Gretna, Nebraska
- Project Advocates – Omaha, Nebraska
- Rachel Ziegler (artist) – Omaha, Nebraska
- Rocky’s Stone & Design – Omaha, Nebraska
- Surface America – Williamsville, New York
- TD2 Engineering & Surveying – Omaha, Nebraska
- Terracon – Omaha, Nebraska
- Vrana – Omaha, Nebraska
- Waters Edge Aquatic Design – Kansas City, Kansas
