Eric McMillan (born 13 April 1942) is a Canadian designer who began his career designing exhibitions. In 1972 he started designing play areas and elements that encourage children to learn through play. The concepts were composed of a great variety of materials. He has been referred to as "the father of soft play".

Early life

McMillan was born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

in northern England in 1942, during an air-raid, to a working-class mother. He was still-born, but was revived by the midwife who dipped him alternately in buckets of cold and warm water. At the age of five, he moved to

North Manchester North Manchester was, from 1896 to 1916 a civil parish within the Poor Law Union of Manchester, in Lancashire, (now Greater Manchester) England. North Manchester was a local government sub-district used for the administration of Poor Law legisl ...

, where he was cared for by the wife of his blind grandfather. Requiring glasses that he refused to wear or order to fight off bullying, he attended nine schools between five and fifteen, leaving from St Boniface's RC School in Higher Broughton, at the age of 15, barely literate. As a child, he played in the wrecks of houses and building sites in the shadow of Strangeways, Manchester. Play was unconstrained freedom. He enrolled for an apprenticeship as a house painter, and at the college of art encountered students doing more creative courses.

Career

In 1968, he moved from the Canadian Government Exhibition Commission in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

to join the design team planning

Ontario Place Ontario Place was an entertainment venue, event venue, and park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The venue is located on three artificial landscaped islands just off-shore in Lake Ontario, south of Exhibition Place, and southwest of Downtown Toron ...

. When Ontario Place opened in 1971, the section of the exhibition he had designed called "Explosions" was the most successful exhibit in that first season. In consequence of this success, he was appointed chief designer for the whole project. The following year saw the opening of the "Children’s Village" land play area and from that project grew his reputation as a designer of children's play attractions. The opening of the "Water Play" area in 1973 secured that reputation. His work introduced ideas like the ball crawl (also known as ball pit), net climb, punch bag forest, birdie glide, roller slide, cave crawl, together toys, foam swamp, water bicycle cannons, balancing buoys, rubber band bounce, and a whole range of interactive play elements. He was inducted into the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) Hall of Fame in 1997.

Partnership

In 1975, together with partners Rosemarie Duell and Len Rydahl, he formed a design partnership and went on to design play attractions around the world. "Cap'n Kids World" at

SeaWorld Ohio SeaWorld Ohio was a theme park and Ocean, marine zoological park located in Aurora, Ohio. It was owned and operated by United Parks & Resorts, Busch Entertainment Corporation. The Ohio location was the second SeaWorld park to be built in the c ...

was the first project built in the U.S. in 1975. His list of projects include: " Sesame Place" in Langhorne, Pennsylvania; "

Parc de la Villette The Parc de la Villette () is the third-largest park in Paris, in area, located at the northeastern edge of the city in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, 19th arrondissement. The park houses one of the largest concentrations of cultural venues ...

" in Paris, France; "Space Science Park" at Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama; "Boston Children’s Museum Ocean Filter Attraction" in Boston, Massachusetts; "

Founders Heritage Park Founders Heritage Park is a museum in Nelson, New Zealand, housing a number of groups with historical themes, including transport. A short heritage railway line is operated by the Nelson Railway Society. Several shops operate in the museum, sel ...

in Nelson, New Zealand; " Eureka! The National Children's Museum" in Halifax, England; and many other projects including his work at

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a world's fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

. He was once described by

Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

as "The next

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

Notable projects

* The Children's Village and Water Attraction at

in Toronto, Canada (1972) * Cap'n Kids World at

in Aurora, Ohio (1975) * Cap'n Kids World at

SeaWorld San Diego SeaWorld San Diego is a theme park in Mission Bay Park in San Diego, California. It is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, public aquarium, and marine animal rehabilitation center. SeaWorld, the theme park's proprietor, is owned and operated by Un ...

in San Diego, California (1976) * Old Chicago in Bolingbrook, Illinois (1977) * Whale of a Time World at

Marine World/Africa USA Marine World/Africa USA was an animal theme park located in the Redwood Shores area of Redwood City, California. The park was named Marine World when it first opened in 1968, before merging with a land-animal park called Africa USA in 1972. In ...

in Redwood Shores, California (1979) * Sesame Place in Langhorne, Pennsylvania (1980) *

in Paris, France (1984) * Space Science Park at Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama (1984) *

Boston Children's Museum Boston Children's Museum is a children's museum in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to the education of children. Located on Children's Wharf along the Fort Point Channel, Boston Children's Museum is the second oldest children's museum in the ...

Ocean Filter Attraction in Boston, Massachusetts (1987) *

in Nelson, New Zealand (1987) * Eureka! The National Children's Museum in Halifax, England (1988)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McMillan, Eric 1942 births Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian designers Living people