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Miracle Recreation Equipment company history timeline

1927

Playground history was made back in 1927 when John Ahrens founded Miracle Recreation in Grinnell, Iowa.

1931

Carl Theodor Sorensen, a Danish landscape architect, first gave voice to the concept of the adventure playground in 1931.

1940

John passed his company to his son, Claude, in 1940.

1943

The first junk playground was built in 1943 at the edge of Copenhagen during the Nazi occupation.

1946

Claude already owned a hybrid seed corn company, but in 1946 he focused his attention on manufacturing and selling the Miracle Whirl.

1948

Adventure playgrounds began cropping up in England in 1948.

1958

Founded in 1958 by Joe’s father, Denzak Recreational Design & Supply has been western and central New York’s premier park and playground equipment consulting and design firm.

1966

He followed his father who began representing Miracle in 1966 and served customers for more than 50 years.

1970

By 1970, Miracle Recreation Equipment had 200 employees selling and manufacturing playground equipment and bleachers at facilities in Iowa, California and Virginia.

1972

Paul Ahrens became President of Miracle in 1972, the same year the company sold 30 percent of its shares to the public.

Owned and operated by brothers Brad and Curt, Hutchinson Recreation & Design has been a Miracle representative since it was established by their father, Roger Hutchinson, in 1972.

1974

He succeeded his father Bob Churchich, who founded the company in 1974, as the exclusive distributor for Miracle.

1981

The number of playground-related injuries increased quickly enough that the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) developed the first Handbook for Public Playground Safety in 1981.

1982

Paul next announced plans in 1982 to build a new plant in Monett, Missouri.

1985

In 1985, he co-founded Engan-Tooley-Doyle & Associates, Inc. (ETD), later becoming Miracle Midwest, to provide consulting, layout, design, and equipment supply services throughout Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio.

1986

Paul became chairman of Miracle in late in 1986.

1990

Canada put out a more developed standard for children’s playgrounds and their equipment in 1990.

1998

In 1998, Tami Phillips founded Miracle of KY & TN, a woman-owned and family-run business that supplies, designs, and installs Miracle Equipment.

2002

Claude then sold Miracle Recreation Equipment Company to PlayPower in 2002.

2004

In 2004, Jeff founded Churchich Recreation and Design.

2010

Tami has decades of experience in the industry, and her team of expert playground design specialists includes her husband, Jeff Phillips, who heads the installation crews, and son, Josh Wagner, who has been a salesman for Miracle of KY & TN since 2010.

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Founded
1927
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Headquarters
Monett, MO
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Miracle Recreation Equipment competitors

Company nameFounded dateRevenueEmployee sizeJob openings
BCI Burke Playground Equipment1920$16.3M5010
Landscape Structures1971$750.0M20060
VIPER1982$21.4M330-
Taylor & Fenn1834$12.3M14-
Atlas Foundry1893$19.2M100-
Universal Stainless1994$285.9M42154
Vac-Con1986$86.0M300-
PlayPower1993$600.0M5213
Spokane Industries1952$23.5M100-
Omaha Steel1906$2.5M151

Miracle Recreation Equipment history FAQs

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