Return to Dickinson Square

We're revisiting Dickinson Square Park this week.  Renovated in 2012, the is among the best places for families in southeast Philadelphia - not so much for the play equipment, but for the mature tree canopy, and the large mound of artificial turf surfacing.  It's a comfortable, wide-open space among the narrow streets of Pennsport.  The renovation retains a crescent concrete seat wall and uses it to frame play areas designed for ages 2-5, 5-12, and an array of six to-and-fro slides (two for younger children). 

Equipment:

2-5 play area (appeals most to children 1-4)

• Kompan Blazer - you may know it from other recent playground installations in the city - a three-person spring rocker that is a real winner for interaction among children.   
• A house-theme stair and slide, with an attached horizontal rope ladder.  Young children delight in the slide.  The rope climbers are a nice addition, but get very little use - possibly because of the small size of the ladder.  A 90-degree turn from the stair to the slide (with an open fall of 4' at the top) keeps the parents of young children on their toes.

Ages 5-12 play area

• A compound structure, also by Kompan, that features two spinners, a balance pad, some very modest cord climbers, and an inclined balance bar.  
• (removed) A pyrimidal, rotating climber (possibly a Dynamo Apollo).  The foundation for this climber failed, and it was removed in summer 2017.  

Ages: All ages, but best for children 1-10.   
Surface: Artificial Turf 
Shade (0-3): 3 - Mature canopy of London Plane Trees - majestic, and extremely comfortable
Water: N 
Other: adjacent basketball court, adjacent tables and chairs, a community center, sculpture that children love to climb on, shaded grassy areas, and lots of space enjoyed by dog walkers, a weekly (small) farmer's market
Access: No barriers, standard park hours

Impressions:  This is one of my favorite parks in Philadelphia.  The equipment is successful enough and provides a good variety of play types and challenges, though the removed 5-12 rotating climber is sorely missed, and older children may find the playground a little dull. The real star here is an open turf mound.  It's enormously popular with families in the summer, creates an interesting area for young children to walk and run, and provides a comfortable spot for parents to sit and supervise the playground.  Lawns at nearby parks are generally dominated by dog walkers, making the mound a unique place to sit and relax in the "grass."  If you're concerned about the toxicity of turf mounds - it's worth learning more.  You won't find crumb rubber among the artificial grass blades, and, despite it's popularity the mound has held up well - with only a slight tear at a seam where turf mats cover the mound.  If anything, the mound is too popular; it attracts older children playing soccer and football, and there's not quite enough space for a simultaneous soccer game and family picnics.  It's a sign of the renovations success and Dickinson Square's wide appeal.

Overall Rating: 9/10

Futuristic little playspace: Karen Donnelly Park

Playground: Karen Donnelly Park
Location: stretches narrowly from Dickinson to Greenwich in the middle of the block between 2nd and 3rd
Date visited: 1/24/12

Equipment: A number of separate sculptural pieces made of futuristic stainless steel, scattered around the artificial grass play space:

• A real teeter totter! Metal with spongy rubber bumpers underneath and similar material forming seats on top (seats 4), but the same action as the old wooden ones.
  
• A sort of golf-bal-on-a-tee contraption at calf that seems to spin and bounce up and down. (to sit on?)
  
• A tall pole shaped like a cat-tail stalk, with a disk at the base, which bounces and leans, maybe spins...
  
• A low arch (hanging bar + climbing?)
  
• A large metal dome (screams "king of the hill" game) that channels slide-climbing impulses. [Note: A sign warns that this gets very hot in summer sun.]

material: techno-metal; scale: small
Ages: 0-8?
Surface: astroturf/brick
Shade(0-3): 0 (some young trees)
Water: N
Other: Some cement chess tables with cement benches.
Access: open

Impressions: Cute and innovative use of a tiny park space, but the futuristic play equipment is as much perpexing as inviting -- probably a group of kids would invent novel games around pieces a single preschooler couldn't really figure out how to play with (except for the teeter totter! whee!).
Overall rating: 7

Not terribly inviting: Ford Rec. Center playground

Playground: Ford Recreation Center
Location: Snyder between 6th and 7th
Date visited: 1/24/12

Equipment: Two zones close together but separately fenced:

1. A single freestanding metal slide (around 4 feet high) and 2 bucket swings
   
2. A medium playset with 4-6-foot platforms, straight metal and spiral plastic slides, straight monkey bars, and a fireman's pole

material: modern; scale: small
Ages: 2-10
Surface: rubbery/cement
Shade(0-3): 0
Water: N
Other: basketball, swimming pool, rec. center building
Access: (not marked)

Impressions: Small play zone tucked into a low-rise block of Snyder is good for a snack but too limited for a longer visit, except maybe for a bucket-swinger. The colorful mural behind the pool is a really nice one, but blowing trash undermines its intended cheer.
Overall rating: 5

The far south: Greenwich Rec. Center

Playground: Greenwich Recreation Center
Location: 3rd and Shunk (SW)
Date visited: 10/9/10

Equipment: Two playsets in close proximity:

1. Very low (2.5-foot) platform, with easy climbing, animal-body "tic tac toe" variant, a solid flat bridge, and double plastic slide(s).
   
2. Taller has good mix of climbing, one straight metal and one spiral plastic slide, and monkey bars.

Two bucket and one strap swing, and an extra piece of equipment that has straight bars for hanging or climbing.
Ages: 1-7
Surface: rubbery composite around equipment; grass or cement elsewhere
Shade(0-3): 1+
Water: N
Other: swimming pool, football field, extra grassy area, basketball, mural-covered rec center, and extra blacktop with painted games
Access: not marked

Impressions: Nice large space overall, but compact play zone. Equipment is colorful but abused -- worn holes in the rubbery surface, graffitti and missing paint, and, worst, stubs of former equipment jutting up just a little above the ground...
Overall rating: 6

Eagles Unity Playground (in Mifflin Square)

Playground: Eagles Unity Playground
Location: 6th and Wolf (open)
Date visited: 10/9/10 (Saturday at noon)

Equipment: Two main playsets:

• Larger has monkey bars, swinging rings, a zip line (ring missing), lots of climbing types, parallel bars, solid and jointed bridges, one metal slide (a second one missing and boarded up), and benches underneath.
  
• Smaller has steps and simple climbing, double plastic slides (soaked with mud/coffee/worse at visit).

Also what appears to be a set of water sprayers in a large cement circle (off at time of October visit), and a set of swings (2 strap, 2 bucket).
Ages: 1-8 (10?)
Surface: rubbery around equip.; cement, brick, grass elsewhere
Shade(0-3): 0 (larger), 2 (smaller)
Water: Y?
Other: Volleyball pits, basketball, lots of grass, small picnic table area
Access: open (dawn to dusk?)

Impressions: Cheerful and fun, with lots of options packed into each piece of equipment. However, in need of upkeep, from missing or broken pieces to trash issues. Lots of happy kids there when we visited, in a range of ethnicities. Interesting gold-leaf-covered Thai temple across the street to the south.
Overall rating: 7

In need of some love: Dickinson Square playground

Playground: Dickinson Square park
Location: Between Morris and Tasker, 3rd and 4th
Date visited: 8/15/10

Equipment: Two formal play structures:

• Smaller tot piece has a double plastic and single metal slide, various ladders and steps
  
  
• Larger kid piece has a stretch of monky bars, a fireman's pole, single metal slide and spiral plastic slide.

There's also a free-standing metal piece here that may have been intended as a climbing object or as a sculpture, but is clearly being used as both; it's a challenging steep cone to climb, with rings at the top to hang onto/from. There are two areas that used to have swings: one has the metal frame but no swings or chains, and the other just has the rubbery surface and guard rails but no structure there at all.
material: weathered version of modern resin and metal; space: med play space in broader open park
Ages: 1-10
Surface: rubbery around equipment; blacktop and grass elsewhere
Shade(0-3): 3
Water: N
Other: Basketball courts, a padded loop (for bikes and skateboards?), grassy and paved areas, some sort of rec-center-ish building (Parson's Center)
Access: 6am-10pm (open park)

Impressions: Grassy neighborhood park has a small shady playground surrounded by a low stone wall, and lots of grassy space and benches. During our Sunday-noon visit, families and kids played with rubber balls and wagons on the basketball court, dug in some dirt, and gave it a happy feel that belied the worn equipment and missing swings. A place that deserves some repair and upkeep, especially since it's so prime for a picnic and play combination.
Overall rating: 5

Great for clambering but needs more: Sacks Playground

Playground: Sacks Playground
Location: 4th and Federal (entrance on corner)
Date visited: 7/25/10 (early Sunday morning)

Equipment: Two jungle gyms -- one short and fairly long, accessible by steps or various ladders/climbing walls, including a bridge but no slides (!); the other basically just a tall tower, accessible by two tall ladders and with a spiral slide. Shorter jungle gym also includes a cool racing car game (two cars run around a track when you turn a crank), but partially broken (only one car moves smoothly). Fairly large free-standing climbing wall, including low tunnels to crawl through. Low multi-tunnel crawling area. Two-foot high stone turtle with many footholds for climbing. 8-foot tall tower for climbing. Two strap swings.

Ages: 1-8 years
Surface: Rubberized foam throughout
Shade(0-3): 2
Water: No
Other: Public pool, large ball field, basketball courts, extra blacktop and grass; another large park across 4th Street
Access: Dawn to dusk? Fenced in, but gate open at 4th and Federal when visited at 7:30 AM on a Sunday, so presumably open most of the time?

Impressions: Appealing and novel set of equipment, with quite a few options for smaller children. Clean with a nice playing surface. Between the multiple climbing walls, tall climbing structure, usual ladders on jungle gyms, and tunnels and turtle, good clambering options for all ages. However, a glaring lack of slides -- the main jungle gym has none! -- you climb up and then need to climb back down. The one slide is only accessible by a pair of tall ladders, not good for younger children, at least not without assistance. It appears that there was once a connection between the two jungle gyms, which would explain the lack of slide for the one, but now there is a boarded-up circular hole at the end of each. Another glaring lack -- no bucket swings, and indeed only two strap swings. Overall, it feels like a pleasant environment that is in need of just a bit more development -- dealing somehow with the boarded-up ends of the jungle gym, for example. If that happened, this would be a very nice playground -- already it has a nice feel and an above-average variety of climbing possibilities.
Overall rating: 6 (higher than that in terms of feel and climbing options, but some glaring deficiencies in terms of slides and swings)

Waves of happy kids: Herron Park sprayground

Playground: Herron
Location: 2nd & Reed (entrance on Reed)
Date visited: 8/17/09

Equipment: Two totally different areas, one playground, one water/spray park:

• Water is what brings the most visitors, at least in summer. There are 4-5 different (cement-paved) subzones, in which sets of sprayers either spout from the pavement, pour down from atop poles, or arc across the space. Some produce a lot of volume, and are thus better for bigger kids, but even toddlers and crawlers will find something in the smaller areas with subdued spouts.
  
• About a third of the space is a modern cutting-edge adventure-style playground, with lots of things to climb, spin, ride skateboards on rails, and some cool-looking electronic game I didn't figure out. Also one spring-based teeter-totter and two sizeable fibreglass climbing rocks.

type: metal, rope, and rubber; sacle: medium area with several zones
Ages: just about any age for the sprayground, but the play equipment doesn't offer much for toddlers; see below
Surface: Cement in water area, "woodchip-style" rubbery composite in playground areas; also some grass and garden plantings.
Shade(0-3): 0 (but lots of new trees means this could change in a few years)
Water: Y!
Other: bathrooms, basketball courts (with a seasonal soccer league?), tables with benches and awnings
Access: dawn to dusk (+ see comment below post)

Impressions: This recently created sprayground is enough to fulfill the fantasies of anybody who's ever chased a lawn sprinker. Sets of sprays cycle on and off, keeping the kids racing from zone to zone in packs, although toddlers among the smaller sprayers are out of the main traffic. I visited late on a weekday (around 4) and it was busy with a healthy mix of ages and races. The playground equipment is also very neat and different (similar in style to the older kids area at Franklin Square, but with different offerings), but will be most enjoyed by kids of school age. In particular, the one piece of equipment that my toddler could climb onto had a single slide with a near-vertical drop that was way beyond her aptitude. However, a neat spinning cup seat and the spring-totter may fill that gap a bit. A fellow blogger offers some photos of both zones. Two specifics should be noted, given the complete absence of helpful signage:

1. the cycling activity of the sprays requires a periodic signal that people are still around (which makes ecological sense, but is completely nonobvious): there are waist-high red poles in each subzone that have a hand sensor that will trigger things to start up again, should it fall quiet.
   
2. According to a young regular, the water is turned off at 5, so don't plan your visit too late in the day or your crew might be disappointed.

Overall rating: 10

Update (11/27/11): Finally figured out the "cool electronic game" mentioned above, which is indeed both a hoot and a spur to exercise. Specifically, what looks like a podium with a foot platform (right near the jungle gym) is actually the controller for a series of games in which lights flash on various parts of the climbing equipment and you (solo or teams) run and climb to turn them off. My nearly 4-year-old is fanatical about this, and we recently spent more than an hour racing about with her until Spouse and I both had aching joints and happy exhaustion. Worth giving a try! (There appears to be something similar in the center of the spinning ring, which encourages you to spin to line up with specific target points, also fun.)

Update (6/11/12): Here's the official word on what's going on with the park this summer, since I know a lot of people are wondering:

The hours of operation for the spraygrounds for the month of June are Monday thru Friday 3 to 7 (We changed this based on complaints from Herron) and Saturday 12 to 4 until our summer staff starts. We are waiting on paperwork for the sprayground staff at Herron. They can start June 13. Unfortunately our seasonal budget has been slashed during this administration and we don't have much wiggle room. July 1 we will go to 7 day operation and the spraygrounds will be open on Sundays.

Will add more detail if we hear the specific hours for weekends for the rest of the summer. We need some spray!