McPherson Square: grassy park with a small playset

Playground: McPherson Square

Location: Large block-sized park, bounded by E,F on East and West, Clearfield and Indiana North and South

Date visited: 10/1/11

Equipment: 1 small playset in a larger grassy park -- compact but decent: 1 small surved and 1 tall bumpy slide (both plastic), climbing wall (tilted), chain rope net

Ages: 1-7

Surface: rubbery by equipment, surrounded by grass

Shade(0-3): 0

Water: N

Other:some nice trees (away from equipment), library building in center of park, el tracks nearby

Access: (not posted)

Impressions: Too minimal for any sort of trip, but could make a fun "snack" if you were visiting the library branch or doing other business in the area

Overall rating: 7 (for quality), though significantly smaller than average sized

Hissey Center: zone for the smaller set in Kensington

Playground: Hissey Center

Location: Indiana Ave. & Budinot St.

Date visited: 10/1/11

Equipment:

• Medium-height small platform with straight metal slide and several ladders
• Several cement climbing animals ranging from a foot-high turtle (perfect for crawlers) to a standing turtle, and sitting elephant & camel
• Four bucket swings
• Higher playset with miscellaneous climbing and 1 tall straight metal slide
• Several large zones of rubbery surface with no equipment (maybe used to have 1 set of swings and 1 other piece?)

material: modern res/metal; scale: large

Ages: 0-7

Surface: rubbery, separated by blacktop

Shade(0-3): 2

Water: N

Other: basketball, baseball field (?) and extra grass, extra blacktop

Access: (not posted)

Impressions: Nicely shaded playground looks a little forgotten--missing equipment makes you think less of the small pieces that remain. In fact, what's here is probably pretty good for the smallest set (especially toddlers), although some broken glass may keep crawlers from playing at liberty here.

Overall rating: 5

Hancock Playground: a minor gem in Kensington

Playground: Hancock Playground

Location: Master (EW) and Hancock (NS), enter on Hancock

Date visited: 5/8/11

Equipment:

• Big-kid playset: multiple platforms, accessible by steps or 5 ladders (two quarter-circles (one quite large) plus a coil, a zigzag, and a straight); one very tall fire-pole, and one large multibump plastic slide, which unfortunately was not at all slippery
• Little-kid playset: several platforms accessible by 4 ladders (including quarter-circle and zig-zag), with 3 small slides and a wall decorated as a fire truck with steering wheel
• 4 strap swings, 2 bucket swings
• metal merry-go-round (could fit 6-8 kids at once)
• teeter-totter

Ages: 1-10

Surface: rubberized around play areas

Shade(0-3): 0

Water: No

Other: pool, rec center, basketball court, baseball field

Access: whole block surrounded by tall fence, with chainable entry gate on Hancock St.; posted hours are 7 AM-9:30 PM. For what it's worth, it was open on a Sunday at 10ish, so that's a good sign

Impressions: More-than-average set of equipment, all in pretty good shape, and a good amount of space (within a rec space that is itself quite spacious). The "extras" are nice -- the merry-go-round, the teeter-totter -- and the two playsets themselves are more than the standard fare. It's too bad that the one slide for the big-kid zone was so much less fun than it looked (maybe more slippery pants would help, but I'm skeptical).

Overall rating: 8