Playgrounds

Playground Progress: A Little Love for Central Tacoma

Over the course of the past four years or so, parks all over the city have gotten a face lift. Somehow, Central Tacoma seemed to end up at the end of the line. At long last, three center city parks are receiving playground upgrades: Franklin, Wright, and McCarver. This summer I ran into Ms. Darcy and her toddler Max at Franklin Park, where he was magnetically attracted to the orange caution tape that was supposed to signal to pre-verbal children that they should not climb the decaying remnants of the Big Toy.

neighborhood: 

Topic: 

Kandle Park, New Master Plan

Plans to convert Kandle Park into an urban playland have taken a big step forward, with a new Draft Master Plan, featuring a beach-entry pool, sprayground, spray pool and skate park. Under the plan, Kandle would also get an all-new playground and keep the popular community garden space as well as a large open area for sports practices or other open ended uses.

Topic: 

Taxonomy upgrade extras: 

neighborhood: 

McKinley Park Facelift

Wow! This is going to be one amazing park, playground and skate park. It's already finished enough to stop by and play a while. (Just be very respectful of the new grass seed, or Metro Parks might have to fence it off.) mckinley park The big kid and I took a little trip up there today, for a walk along the nicely paved path (mud free and perfect for a rainy day).

neighborhood: 

Topic: 

Wapato Lake

I confess, I had never been to Wapato Lake before yesterday afternoon. With the mall sewage issue, the rampant algae, and the ensuing water treatment debacle, followed by attempts to pull an entire car out of the lake, it just didn't sound too inviting. I was very wrong.

I don't know how it used to look, but this is the lake yesterday, post restorative treatments:

neighborhood: 

Topic: 

Sunnyside Beach

I've been waiting for another sunny day to talk about Sunnyside, but I think yesterday was probably it for the rest of the weekend. We checked it out last Sunday when temperatures were in the 80s, and it seemed like the entire South Sound had decided to drive to Steilacoom and enjoy a day at the beach.

neighborhood: 

Topic: 

Colgate Park (The Trouble With Rocket Ship Park)

Two weeks ago, the girls and I checked out Colegate Park, a fantastic space-themed playground out in University Place. I came home all jazzed up to write about it, only to find this article from the Washington State Department of Ecology, dated 2003.

Here's the part we're concerned with: "At four parks, the average arsenic for a play area was above the state cleanup level of 20 parts per million. The highest average arsenic for a play area was 46 parts per million at both Curran Apple Orchard and Colgate Park in University Place. (Average of 6 to 10 samples within each play area). "

neighborhood: 

Topic: 

Old Town Park

I'd never really move to Tukwila. Not with days like yesterday just a short drive down the hill. Spring has finally decided to make a Spring Break appearance, so when Amy called about an adventure yesterday, I thought of Old Town Park, The Spar, and the Waterfront. This is one of my all-time favorite Good Tacoma Days, and all you need to enjoy it is a little warmth and sunlight.

neighborhood: 

Topic: 

Gas Station Park (Mystery Park at S 48th and Park Avenue)

Update: The official name is "Gas Station Park" - more on this later.

OK, it's not really a mystery park, but that's what it seemed like when we ran into this bright blue cookie-moster colored park yesterday. Turns out, it was converted from an old gas station through the Health Department's "Brownfields" project and is now being transformed into a playground by the South End Neighborhood Council.

neighborhood: 

Topic: 

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Playgrounds