Miller man makes the world his playground

• Reprints

Dick Hagelberg, 64, lives and works in the Miller neighborhood of Gary, Ind. He is the co-owner of Kidstuff Playsystems. | Photo provided

Updated: February 10, 2012 8:11AM

“You can’t get safer, better or tougher play equipment anywhere.”

— Kidstuff Playsystems motto

Dick Hagelberg is co-owner of Kidstuff Playsystems in the Miller neighborhood of Gary. He also plays the French horn in the Rusty Pipes Community Concert Band in Hobart and sings tenor in the Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus.

Hagelberg, 64, lives in Miller with his wife, Cheryl. They’ve been married 33 years and raised two sons.

***

“I was raised on a small farm in upstate New York,” Hagelberg began. “We raised chickens, turkeys and vegetables. While growing up, I certainly had a lot of chores, like feeding chickens and weeding the garden in the summer; it wasn’t fun.”

So farming wasn’t for you.

“When I was 16, I started working away from home during the summer at one of the resorts in the area.”

Is Hagelberg a German name?

“It’s actually Swedish. My father was born in Finland; he came through Ellis Island when he was 1 year old. My ancestors were Swedish-speaking Finns; both of my mother’s parents were born in Finland.”

We have a mutual friend: — Indiana University Northwest professor emeritus James Lane.

“I’ve known Jim for many, many years. We play bridge together; he’s very good.”

Are you as liberal as Jim?

“Almost, not quite.”

College?

“I went to Cornell University (in Ithaca, N.Y.), which was only 70 miles from my home. My degree is in science education, but I never did teach. I didn’t think I’d be a good teacher.

“I had a lot of good teachers growing up, which kind of inspired me to pursue that, but I just didn’t feel like it was really what I wanted to do — not that I knew what I wanted to do.”

What did you do after graduating from Cornell?

“I joined VISTA; it’s like the domestic Peace Corps. Now, there’s AmeriCorps, which is a similar organization. VISTA sent me to Gary to work in the elementary schools with the children and their parents.”

Time frame?

“That was summer of ’69.”

Have you lived in Miller ever since?

“I went back to New York in ’73 to get a master’s in early childhood education. Then, I came back here, hoping to get a job in that field — couldn’t get one. I worked for the city planning department for a couple years, then started a day-care center in ’78.”

How long were you in the day-care field?

“About eight years. At that point, in ’78, I married Cheryl; she’s from Indianapolis. After a couple of years, she started working in that field, too. We added two more child-care centers by ’81. But those of us who are older remember the economy really hit the skids about that time.”

A lot of steel workers got laid off during the early ’80s.

“So, the day cares weren’t doing so well, and we needed playground equipment for our early childhood programs. I talked to my friend George McGuan; we looked at building playground equipment for our day-care centers. We decided to see if there was a market. The first playground we sold was to the Highland Park Department. We built it in the Lincoln Center.”

What did that initial playground include?

“Wooden posts and platforms, and steel components like steel ladders. We purchased slides and climbers from other companies. We made our own overhead ladder, but there were some things we couldn’t make.”

How has the business evolved in the last 30 years?

“We started out with wooden play systems. We sell very few wooden systems today — occasionally to the Indiana state parks. In the mid-’90s, it transitioned to steel and plastic”

Dick, I remember searing my backside during summer on those old steel slides or getting my tongue stuck to the monkey bars in winter.

“Absolutely. That’s one of the reasons plastic has evolved; it’s just as good in hot or cold climates.”

Are the parts of the systems that are steel, coated?

“Yes, they are powder-coated. Powder-coating is a real interesting process; it’s a baked-on polyester resin. ... It’s a very tough finish that’s hard to mar. It’s even better than the finish on a car. We still use steel made in Indiana.”

It’s nice to see a business thrive in Gary.

“It’s certainly a challenge; it’s a very competitive market. There are probably 10 companies nationwide that are (International Play Equipment Manufacturers Association)-certified; a half-dozen of them are 50 times bigger than we are. The only way we can survive is by selling our products nationwide. There isn’t a big-enough market locally.”

Playground equipment is so durable today.

“Yes; a system will last for 15 to 20 years.”

Have these Gary-made playgrounds been sold in every state in the union?

“Yep, we’ve also sent several to Japan and had one installed in Guam.”

Who installs them?

“In the United States, we have crews we send all over the country.”

Do you sell to the big-box stores?

“No, our markets are churches, schools, day-care centers, apartment complexes, parks ... . We niche-market to some of the lesser-covered markets, for example, Indian reservations.”

Dick, I’m ready for the dime tour.

“Safety surfacing is very important for playgrounds; the most common are wood chips and loose rubber, but those get kicked around and deteriorate. So, everybody is looking for a better solution for a better safety surface under the playground. This is one we’ve come up with; it’s loose rubber in bags. We put rubber mats on top of it. We’re perfecting and patenting it; we call it Kidsoft.”

***

Dick Hagelberg said he sells about 500 playground sets per year at Kidstuff Playsystems. The friendly Finn figures it’s a lot more fun than raising rutabagas and Rhode Island Reds.