Richard Schwartz Park

We love, loved this park. It’s sparkly and almost new, and has some really interesting play things (a giant train! flying saucer swing!), an adorable splash pad, and an outdoor gym for grownups.

We parked under a tree on Smart Avenue, and walked past the prettiest community garden to the playground. This park isn’t huge but they’ve made great use of the space and have the playground (on a train-themed rubber base), a small sandbox, a building with a washroom, drinking fountain, picnic tables and benches, a 2-part splash pad, and just down a little path is the outdoor gym by Green Gym for adults (who are so inclined). I was not. Ha! At almost 30 degrees at 10am I was having NO part in any sort of exercising. 

Both kids raced for the mega train play structure by Little Tikes Commercial. Actually, so did I because it looked so entertaining and original. It’s similar to the small train at Yitzak Rabin Park, but much, much bigger. This one has stairs (though steep), ladders, wheels and tunnels to crawl through, multiple slides, benches up in the train and at ground level, things that turn and windows to look through. Both the big and little kiddo liked it and it was big AND small enough for both of them. 
In the same section are two baby swings, the flying saucer swing, some super low to the ground steps-to-nowhere, and a couple of sit-on spinners. There are no big-kid swings but they didn’t really miss them. 

The splash pad is just beside the climber, and has two different sections. I love that the park designers went with a train theme for this park as it is right beside the actual train tracks and some huge freights went by while we were there. Eeeeeeee! So much excitement for the littles 🙂

There is a gentle-mist rainbow to run through, small fountains coming up from the ground, the super cute water tower that had obviously been “shot at by train-robbing bandits!”, a couple of water cannons to turn and spray your brother with (though neither were working), and THEN in the next little part is a bench (sit here if you dare 😉 ), and some more ground sprays. The highlight here was the water tower and the bench. Nice to see something new!

At the far end of the park is the section with the outdoor gym equipment. We’ve seen outdoor gyms before with stationary bars and such, but this is just the second time we’ve seen rowing machines, a Nordik Trak style machine, and a treadmill. The boys loved them but they are definitely meant for adults.This part is VERY close to the unfenced road and not child-safe. You won’t be able to have the kids play while you work out. 

p.s. I’m going to mark this one as “wheelchair accessible”, and though it IS, there isn’t all that much to do at ground level. There are the gears on the train, the little benches and the saucer swing, and it is easy to roll around but that’s it. BUT, better than all the other parks we’ve been to.

Things to note:
-The hours of operation for the splash pad are 9am-9pm. 
-There is no fencing around the playground or splash pad (except for along the rail line of course.)
-There are some picnic tables that were nicely shaded but they are very close to the road.
-The clean bathroom was open when we visited, but had no posted hours. 

CoÌ‚te Saint-Luc – Richard Schwartz Park and Splash Pad from StrollerMom on Vimeo.

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