Luckey Climber coming to Yonkers’ Cross County Shopping Center

YONKERS – The Cross County Shopping Center will renovate its children’s play area and install a Luckey Climber.

On Tuesday the mall’s owners and city officials unveiled the design for the $350,000 makeover of the play area near the Chipotle restaurant.

Luckey Climbers are artfully designed climbing structures for children built by a New Haven-based company of the same name. The climbers have been installed in shopping centers and museums nationwide, including The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City.

“We’re always looking for new ways to make the center more dynamic, more vibrant for the residents of Yonkers and for all of Westchester County,” said Craig Deitelzweig, executive vice-president of Brooks Shopping Centers, which operates the mall. “Our true hope is that special memories will be made here that will last a lifetime.”

The 16-foot high climber looks like water lily pads stacked atop each other on arched metal posts that are surrounded by netting and covered by a canopy. Spencer Luckey attended the design unveiling and he said the concept behind his company’s climbers is to stimulate children’s and adults’ imaginations.

“Kids are much more sophisticated than we ever give them credit for and they really appreciate quality,” said Luckey, adding that his climbers are designed to be visually pleasing. “If it has some sort of aesthetic shortcomings it becomes almost a liability for a place like a mall or a public institution, they can’t just put anything in their town square.”

Access to the mall’s play area has been restricted and the old equipment has been removed. Mall officials said construction is expected to begin in a few weeks and the renovation is expected to be completed by late fall.

The renovation is the latest change at the mall. Earlier this summer the young-adult apparel retailer Hollister opened a new store there.