Surfaces: sand, concrete.
I feel like a bit of a jerk giving this one an 89 rather than a 90, because it’s a really nice playground in a pretty good park. There’s a bit of history, too; the first Grey Cup was played in the big field right next to the playground.
There’s also some great equipment with some unique features; a double-height climbing structure with a shockingly fast slide, a big slab of faux rock that makes for a challenging climb if your kid is into bouldering…there’s also a nice series of panels with mock dashboards and buttons and stuff that my kids found fascinating. And although the water feature is officially a wading pool, there are some splash pad-type fountain features that make the pool better than the classic Toronto mid-century cement wading circle.
So what’s holding me back from giving this one a gold star?
Well, accessibility is one part of it. It’s not an easy trip by transit, and people who don’t live in Rosedale have a tendency to get lost driving through Rosedale.
There’s also my own personal dislike of sand. Sandboxes are fine, but this one is entirely sand…well, except the wading pool, but so much sand ends up in there anyway that they’ve posted signs reminding you that the pool will break if you bring so much as a single grain in with you.
But something less obvious that struck me here was that each piece of equipment had a small plaque telling you which wealthy local family had donated the money for it. I know that shouldn’t bother me; it’s nice that the neighbours pitched in to give the park some top-notch equipment. But it felt weird. Like being in a concert hall and noticing that you’re standing in the Reginald J. Tottenheim lobby or something.
I guess it just seemed unfair that this park should have such better equipment than, say, Edge Park, just because the surrounding neighbourhood could afford it.
But hey! What do I know anyway? In the end, it’s a solid playground, and rich kids deserve a place to play too.