Sunday, July 18, 2010

Small shady refuge: Gold Star Park

Playground: Gold Star Park
Location: On Wharton, between 6th & 7th (small interior streets)
Date visited: 7/18/10 (Sunday late morning)

Equipment: One small playset, including one slide (metal), a hanging bar, some crow's nests, and some climbing bits (including a "barrel roll" ladder). No swings or other equipment.
material: modern resin & metal; scale: small park with single playset area inside
Ages: 1-3
Surface: rubbery composite around playset
Shade(0-3): 3!
Water: N
Other: grassy areas, benches, blacktop, lots of shade, one large partly fenced blacktop that looks like a basketball court with no nets
Access: can't be closed, but posted 6am-10pm

Impressions: Feels like the old community parks of my youth -- mostly for shady picnics and "running around" -- except that about half of it is inexplicably paved. (It seems like a retired light pole could be repurposed for a basketball hoop, but perhaps that would make a peaceful space too noisy for the quiet townhouses on all sides.) Still, it was a real respite on a hot day, and our 29-month-old ran around with glee and rolled her ball in the grass.
Extras: There are apparently concerts in this park on Thursday nights in the summer. Also, a man sitting on a bench was surfing wifi; I forgot to ask whether it was free or filched...
Overall rating: 7 (for toddlers only)

2 comments:

  1. i always wanted to make a blog/website of philadelphia playgrounds but never did. thanks for taking it on! I noticed that you don't have any parks in the northwest (germantown, mt. airy, east falls, chestnut hill, roxborough, manayunk)on your site. we've got some great playgrounds up here!

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  2. well, I think you can see that they're on our map. this heat wave has stymied us -- we can really only go to a playground very early in the day, so adding a car trip of any length is impractical. any time the weather wants to subside in ferocity, I'm happy to go farther afield! next up will be West Philly, I think...

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