Memorial Park (also known as “that park”) is the green space tucked neatly behind the Dunbar Community Centre at Dunbar and 31st Avenue. In addition to the playground, there’s a lawn bowling club, tennis courts and a baseball diamond with bleachers.
The day we visited, there was a lot of activity in the park. At one end, there was an intense game of Tee Ball while at the other end a small group took Tai Chi lessons.
The playground was busy, full of kids “playing nice”. This park has three main structures, one for bigger kids with a spiral slide and the second (very similar to the apparatus at Chaldecott Park) contained a fort, mini suspension bridge and zip line. Yes, I said zip line…wheeeeeeeeeeeeee! That part of the playground was a little advanced for my little guy but he was intrigued and stood quietly while he watched the bigger kids give it a try. Third structure contained tubes you could crawl through, a tube slide and a horizontal ladder to climb on or swing from.
This playground, like many I’ve visited, frustrates me. My 21 month old loves all slides but has a hard time accessing them due to the odd design of these structures. They use different types of ladders to give kids access to the slides. These ladders are tricky to climb…shheeesh…what’s wrong with an old fashioned set of stairs. Here we go again…my poor back…I watch parents lift their kids up to the slides so they can slide on down. The only park I know of (at this point) with easy access to the spiral slide is the Granville Loop park.
Memorial Park is another park from my childhood. It was fun to visit and feels like home to me. We’ll be back to check out the zip line and perhaps even play a little Tee Ball in the future.