Centennial Park

Edited late fall 2015: A new adaptive swing has replaced one of the big-kid swings. Photo gallery is updated!

I’ve been avoiding coming here all summer with both boys because: there’s water, the little one doesn’t stop when I say stop, and there’s water.

He’s gotten better at the listening part so after picking up chocolate milkshakes at McDonald’s (so good, but is there actually any milk in those?), we drove over and were the only ones at the park for almost our entire time playing and exploring.
I’ve been to this park a few times with the older one, and while it’s a beautiful spot, the play equipment is pretty dingy and the beach and sand area is generally COVERED in the trifecta of duck/goose/seagull poop. Leave your sand toys at home!
Maybe because it was September, but the beach was mildly better than usual though you REALLY have to watch where you step or sit. And because the playground right in front of the beach, the birds often wander up to where the kids are playing. 

It seems like this should be Beaconsfield’s feature park with amazing shiny equipment, but I don’t think any of it has been cleaned or repaired in years. It all needs a good pressure washing and paint job. Nevertheless, there is some unique 80’s style equipment here and the boys enjoyed checking out the slides, “pirate boat” toddler play structure, metal spring-riders, balance beam, geodesic dome climber, odd little picnic table thing (filthy, don’t actually eat on it!), and the stand-alone twirly slide. By far their favourite was the long tube/tunnel that can swing. There are also two baby and two one big swings.

The Little Tikes twirly slide has some fairly steep metal stairs, so I spotted from the ground. And then half way up. And then they came flying down.
The boat play structure has a small staircase, metal rungs and ladders, a “mast” and a ground level steering wheel and tic-tac-toe wall. Chain ropes make up the front (bow??) of the boat. 
Beside the metal dome (don’t see those much anymore!) is another tiny toddler climber, but this one has no stairs, just a couple of metal ladders. On top is a steering wheel and tandem slides. 

After a poop emergency that was saved by the on-site porta potties (and hand sanitizer stations. Amazing!), we wandered down past the beautiful Centennial Hall and walked right down to the water. Be very, very careful of the broken cement, rotten wood and nails sticking out of the walkway! Definitely NOT kid-friendly, but a gorgeous view. We watched the ducks and Canada geese and then ran around in the trees for a bit before heading back for round 2 at the playground.

I think we’ll continue to avoid this park in prime duck weather (spring) but it was such a warm and sunny late September afternoon, and there was something very soothing about being down by the water. Both boys were relaxed, didn’t bicker and even played together happily 🙂 I’m going to thank the ducks and the sound of the waves lapping for adding some Zen to our afternoon.

Feature
Toddler park (2-5) ✓
Fenced toddler park
Baby swings ✓
Big kid park (5-12)
Big kid swings ✓
Parking lot ✓
Street parking
Shade ✓
Water fountain ✓
Picnic tables ✓
Benches ✓
Seasonal Bathrooms ✓
Green space ✓
Soccer fields
Baseball field
Tennis courts
Basketball
Splash pad
Pool
Reduced mobility swings ✓
Dep nearby

 

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