In 1808, Thomas Sparks, a plumber, built this tower to make musket balls and shot.  Before this tower, munitions makers would use molds to form the spherical balls.  But, apparently, if you drop molten lead 140 feet (or so), it will take on a spherical shape.  Anything less than that would yield a tear-drop shape.  For generations, the Sparks made ammunition in the tower.  Today, it looms over a playground, baseball field, and newly-opened spray ground.  And while the story of the shot tower is pretty unusual, the playground equipment is pretty standard.

Philly Playground Project (reviewed: 9/5/09)

Shot Tower Playground Facebook Page

View Larger Map

Visited: March 2014

The Weccacoe Playground was hopping on the first Saturday of Spring that we visited.  The equipment was fun, but the big draw was an epic hide and go seek game that we played over the entire lot.  There were some neat hiding spaces behind the playground building, behind trees, under a discarded ping-pong table, and near the wisteria (?) covered fence surround the tennis courts.  All in all, Weccacoe is a fine neighborhood playground.  But it looks like it might be even better if the plans put forward by the Friends of Weccacoe Playground (see link below) are carried out.  One complication?  Much of the southwest corner of the playground lies above the 18th & 19th century cemetery of Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church.

Philly Playground Project (reviewed 8/1/09)

Friends of Weccacoe Playground (a project of the Queen Village Neighbors Association)

View Larger Map

Visited: March 2014

Zora brought one of her best friends with her on our trip to the Hawthorne Cultural Center playground, and I thought we would never leave.  “See you at the bottom!” they shouted to each other as they slid down the swirly slide.  “See you at the top!” they shouted as they raced to the top of the slide again.  And over and over.  The playground sits in the shadow of an enormous communications tower which gives the place an eerie edge, but it’s also graced with a beautiful mosaic and artwork on the wall of the building.  Sadly, it’s also graced by a lot of graffiti tags, too.

Philly Playground Project (reviewed: 8/8/2009)

View Larger Map

Visited: March 2014

A big exhilarating and colorful playground with lots of equipment, including rockers and–Zora’s recent favorite–a tic-tac-toe game.  It’s probably the most racially diverse playground we’ve visited, at least on the sun dappled Sunday afternoon that we were there.  The only downside for this vegetarian dad?  The wafting smell of searing cheese steaks from neighboring Pat’s and Geno’s is omnipresent.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (9/22/09)

View Larger Map

Visited: September 2013

I ran into my friend Maripat when Zora and I came to Columbus Square Rec Center.  There are two parts of the playground: a fenced in place for the infants and toddlers and a bigger place for the bigger kids.  It’s an idea that ought to be replicated more, I think.  The playground itself is great.  And the Rec Center offers a baseball field, a dog park, a sprayground, a rain garden with flower beds, and more.  I’m a fan.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (7/18/10)

View Larger Map

Visited: September 2013

For the first time, Zora really truly understood that I was documenting our playground adventures for a website.  And she insisted in writing the names of the playground.  She chose a good one to start with.  DiSilvestro is a pretty standard playground with a beautiful mural wrapping around two sides of the playground building.  If I had my way, I’d jackhammer out some of the concrete on the sides of the building and plant more grass.  But I’m West Philly, and this Rec Center is in South Philly, and I guess sometimes our two neighborhoods will have to agree to disagree.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (visited: 8/15/10)

View Larger Map

Visited: September 2013

If you live near Gold Star Park, I suspect you don’t go there for the playground.  The equipment is fine, but the treasure is really all of the lush green space around it.  The day we were there, lot of neighbors were letting their dogs run about, someone was twirling a hulu hoop, a couple kids were talking on a bench.  It was like the Rittenhouse Square of South Philly.

Philadelphia Playground Project (reviewed: 7/18/10)

View Larger Map

Visited: September 2013

One part of the Mifflin Square playground has three parallel bridges.  That’s pretty cool.  Unfortunately, at least on the Sunday afternoon that we visited, there wasn’t a lot more to say about the playground portion of the park.  Sure, in other parts of the park, an extended family had a picnic, a heated basketball game was in full swing, a well-used volleyball court was very inviting, and a couple of guys were sitting on the benches having an uproarious conversation.  But if you’re looking for interesting, well-maintained playground equipment, Mifflin Square rates just a B-, I’m afraid.  Nevertheless, although much of the equipment is marred by often-profane graffiti, someone(s) have done a great job keeping the benches and equipment colorfully painted.

Philly Playground Project (reviewed October 2010)

View Larger Map

Visited: August 2013

There’s not much to the playground area of this mid-block rec center in South Philly.  It’s also awfully trashy.  But there’s a retro swingset and a retro sliding board.  And–aside from it apparently being across the street from the contractor that tattoos a good deal of the sidewalk repairs done throughout the city–there’s not a whole lot more to say about this park, I’m afraid.

Philly Playground Project (reviewed 1/24/12)

View Larger Map

Visited: August 2013

Zora’s kind of into a tic-tac-toe phase right now.  She gets the strategy–finally!–and is a lot of fun to play with.  Which means she had a blast at this playground because they have TWO tic-tac-toe games and a tic-tac-toe like animal-maker.  Not shown on this map is a curvy path on the rubbery ground surface beneath the playground structures that was a lot of fun to race along.  Shown on this map is the seemingly haphazard scattering of benches and trees.  Over all, this is a nice rec center playground that’s a little worn, but one that I’d be happy to live near.  But what’s up with all of that unused asphalt spread out on the other side of the gym?  Not even a basketball court but just lots and lots of hard, hot space.

Philly Playground Project (reviewed 8/15/2010)

View Larger Map

Visited: August 2013

This huge park takes up a whole city block.  The playground is just a small part of it.  Zora loved the metal sculpture in the first photo below.  She tried to climb it, but wasn’t so successful.  The other kids, who had a few years on her, seemed to have figured out the two secrets to getting to the top: (1) a running start; and (2) friends at the top to help pull you up.  There’s a spinner here with a conical rope structure that allows you to climb up while your friend (or, in this case, your daughter) spins it.  It’s a lot of fun.

Philadelphia Playground Project (visited 8/15/10)

View Larger Map

Visited: April 2013

Herron Playground is such an unexpected joy.  It’s a wide open spot with modern equipment, great climbing rocks, different kinds of options to sit and eat, a few trestles over park benches, and lots of space to run around.  It may even be nicer in a few years when the young trees grow taller and the branches provide some shade.  Zora was a big fan of the sitting spinner.  I tried to keep up with her but just got dizzy and nauseous.  My one complaint?  It’s a lot harder to draw these new-fangled playground pieces than the old school plastic ones.

Philadelphia Playground Project (visited: 8/17/2009)

View Larger Map

Visited: April 2013

This park is a small strip of land in mid-block that, according to this newspaper account, was renovated in 2010.  It’s very quiet and has several unusual features.  The most prominent is the 10 foot wide silver button in the middle.  It’s an odd choice: on the cool but sunny day that we were there, the button was too hot to touch.  And despite the signs warning visitors not to touch it, kids (and their parents) are hard-pressed not to touch it.  Do you know what this playground really needs?  A 40 foot tall elm tree spreading its branches across the park and providing cool shade to visitors.   But, you know, I’m from West Philly.  I think everything is better with trees.

Philadelphia Playground Project (visited: 1/24/12)

View Larger Map

Visited: April 2013

This playground offers a beautiful view of the Philly skyline and, as an added bonus, a much less glamorous view of the back of the rowhouses on South 29th Street.  The rubberized surface of the play area is worn in places, and it’s clear that this playground is just an add-on to the real attraction: the basketball courts.  But there are a couple rare features of the playground, include a cool blue mesh tunnel.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (5/15/11)

View Larger Map

Visited: August 2012

I love the old-school see saw here.  Plus, there are great shade trees and a generally relaxed vibe.  The basketball courts–with viewing bleachers–seem to be the main draw, but there’s also a sprayground next door and plenty of grass to run around on.  The afternoon, we visited, there was a large party going on with more hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill than I’ve ever seen.  And I come from a long line of hot dog and hamburger eaters (even if I’m now vegetarian….)

Philadelphia Playground Project review (5/7/11)

View Larger Map

Visited: August 2012

It was a hot afternoon when we turned the corner and found this great sprayground.  Zora and I quickly ran under the squirting cacti and the dripping palm trees, then dashed under the rainbows.  It’s a pretty standard sprayground–the equipment is essentially the same as any other sprayground we’ve been to–but on the particular HOT afternoon we visited, it was an oasis of cool awesomeness.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (5/7/11)

View Larger Map

Visited: August 2012

This is a peaceful playground under several shade trees in Grays Ferry.  The afternoon we went, there was a lively soccer game going on and a couple guys shooting hoops.  The purple arched see saw is the same as the one at Cedar Park playground, our hometown stomping ground, and it’s the only other one of these we’ve seen.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (5/21/11)

View Larger Map

Visited: August 2012

This was the first playground we visited outside of our West Philly stomping grounds. Zora was pretty excited by the horse and frog rockers.  There’s lots of open green area for running around.  And the Gaupp Meats sign in the distance is pretty cool, too.  The day we visited, there was a spirited card game going on at the table at the picnic table next to the building.  But the nearby swimming pool was closed.

Philadelphia Playground Project review (5/15/11)

View Larger Map

Visited: August 2012