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Thursday, June 04, 2009 11:51 AM

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

Nathan Altic, left, 8, Dakota Altic, center, 5, and Mikaela Baker, 6, right, play Monday afternoon in their tree house in the 800 block of North Main Street in Ottawa.

JUST FOR KIDS: Adventure is only a backyard away

By COURTNEY SERVAES, Herald Staff Writer

Photo by Elliot J. Sutherland/The Ottawa Herald

A play gym that takes the form of a pirate ship, in the 700 block of Cedar Street in Ottawa, may be landlocked, but it still can set sail for many a joyful adventure.

Sometimes it’s a tree house.

A giant tree with branches growing in every direction, with leaves and colorful creatures, surrounded by layers of wood and screws.

Other times it’s a boat. The two steering wheels function as the wooden helm of a huge boat cutting through giant waves in the ocean.

On certain days, it’s a playground. The host of long games of tag, Marco Polo, sometimes even hide-and-seek.

During some nights, it’s a bed, a shelter for a sleepover.

But every day — no matter the occasion — the tree house at 802 N. Main St. is one of 9-year-old Jevan Gregg’s favorite places in the world.

“It’s awesome,” Jevan said.

Jevan is just one Ottawa area child whose most treasured toy is a tree house, playhouse or some version of the same.

From paper to reality

Jevan’s grandfather designed the $500 tree house in a matter of hours.

“We had a deck once when we lived in Olathe that was built around a tree,” Dennis Altic said. “It was a neat idea, and we thought it would be kind of cool.”

Altic and his son pieced the tree house together in a single weekend — complete with swings, a slide, a ladder and two steering wheels.

“It was fun doing it,” Altic said. “It was fun to put it together and watch it come off the paper and come together up in the air.”

While building the tree house, Altic was careful to ensure safety for his grandchildren — all 11 of them.

He doublefasted the railings and measured the height of them to make sure they would prevent anyone from falling off.

“No injuries yet,” he said. “Knock on wood.”

Neighborhood pirate ship

Paul Hemmerla’s children don’t have to pretend their playhouse is a ship. It really looks like one.

The ship at 745 S. Cedar St. is complete with portholes and fully functioning doors for cannons.

Hemmerla said it could be compared to the Santa Maria, one of explorer Christopher Columbus’ ships — but smaller of course.

“It’s kind of fun,” Hemmerla said of the ship that took him about 10 months to build. “If you make the fun thing in your yard, then everybody comes over and plays, and you don’t wonder where your kids are.”

Hemmerla constructed the ship out of decking material and hardy board, often used for siding, which is flexible and easy to form.

“It started out as a general idea,” he said. “I started building it, and it got away from me. I kept thinking, I could do this and I could do this.”

Keeping them entertained

Jevan doesn’t think he’ll ever outgrow his grandparents’ tree house.

It’s too cool, too fun to ever get bored with. And when he’s older, he wants to build one of his own.

“I like the whole thing,” he said.

Sometimes Jevan and his family spend hours on it, playing games, making memories.

That’s why Altic built it, after all.

“I like watching them have fun and get out and play. They don’t stay little for too long,” Altic said. “They grow up too quick.”

Keeping the children entertained is one reason Hemmerla wanted to build the pirate ship.

At the time, Hemmerla’s children were going through a “pirate period.”

“It’s kind of fun to do, fun to make,” Hemmerla said. “I can’t even begin to think of how we would get it out of there. It’s not down in the ground, but it would take a lot of people or a really big crane.”

Future building

The pirate ship is showing signs of weathering because of the sun.

Hemmerla said he plans to paint the ship this summer after more than three years of sunlight.

“It’s hard to find varnish for the wood that will stand up in the sun,” he said. “The wood has aged over time.”

Other than the paint and varnish, Hemmerla said he doesn’t plan to add to the ship anytime soon — though his children now want a castle to go along with the ship.

“It’s like anything else you do, it’s kind of like you end up doing it for the fun of doing it,” he said. “They get these kicks that they go on. It may be pirates one time and space ships another time.”

Unlike Hemmerla, Altic hasn’t had to make too many changes to his year-old tree house. He is considering adding a sandbox to the bottom of it, though.

“We’re putting the boards around the bottom of it to make a sandbox type thing,” he said. “We’re kind of hesitating to put a sand box or a dirt box there.”

No matter what Altic decides, his grandchildren — and children, for that matter — won’t be disappointed with the tree house.

“They would have been happy if I had built it another way, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun,” he said. “I think they are more impressed with it this way.”

Courtney Servaes can be e-mailed at cservaes@ottawaherald.com