Photo courtesy of David Bannister
YMCA officials and others dedicate the new McGregor-Sandlin Playground at the Hoover YMCA in Hoover, Alabama, on Monday, June 22, 2026.
The Hoover YMCA on Monday dedicated two new playgrounds made possible by a $325,000 donation from The Sandlin Foundation for Kids & Kindness.
One of the playgrounds is indoors and is much like a playground you would see inside a Chick-fil-A or McDonald’s restaurant, with about five climbing levels, all enclosed and netted for safety, said Kristin Harris, the executive director of the Hoover YMCA. It has viewing areas for the kids to look out and a huge slide to get back down, she said.
The other playground is outside and was built in an area previously was only fenced and turfed, Harris said. The new outdoor playground includes climbing areas, tunnels, viewing scopes and slides, and it has sensory areas that make noises and three canopies to provide shade from the sun, she said.
“We wanted to make a place where kids could be active and be free,” Harris said.
Officials at the Hoover YMCA first started talking about the idea for a playground with Signature Homes co-founder and Chairman Dwight Sandlin about a year ago, Harris said.
Signature Homes has always been a big supporter of the Hoover YMCA, and Sandlin had come to tour the facility to see where donations were being put to use, she said.
Sandlin agreed to provide money for a playground through the new foundation set up by him and his wife, Sandy. Installation began in March, and the playground was completed by June 1, in time for the beginning of summer day camps, Harris said.
The Hoover YMCA is at 2250 John Hawkins Parkway at the intersection of John Hawkins Parkway and South Shades Crest Road. For more information, visit ymcabham.org/locations/hoover.
