This park recently changed names, from Dragon Park to Di Gennaro Park, in memory of the Kirkland councillor who passed away in 2017. You can read about Councillor Tony Di Gennaro and the park dedication HERE.
This was one of the earliest parks that we visited back in 2014. It was faded, it was worn, and it was very, very old.
Fast forward to now, and the playground – including all the landscaping – has been completely redone into an awesome dragon/castle theme befitting the street that it’s on.
“We’re going to Dragon Street, to see the dragon park!”
“Ooooooooooooh!”
This is a fun park. It’s colourful, there’s tall stuff, turrets, dragons, dragon footprints (whoever came up with that idea is brilliant), a tandem swing, and the interactive Play Biba! mobile app. This app gives you games to be used with the park equipment, so make sure to bring your phone with you if you want to try it out; you can download the free app from iTunes and Google Play. Want to read more about Biba? You can find info HERE. My 5-year old asked for my phone. Uhhhh, no.
The large and imposing “castle” has a whole whack of different ladder styles to get up to the tallllllll slide. My 5-year old was able to climb some of them, but had some self-preservation and decided against trying out a few. There’s a chain rope to balance on, monkey rings, and his favourite: the twirly slide. Older kids will love all the climbing options.
Nearby are two adult swings, two baby swings, and the Little Tikes Generation tandem swing.
The toddler climber is cute, with a rock wall, curly ladder, and pod climber; but for the littlest kids, there’s just really no easy way to get up to the slides. It’s geared for kids 18 months-5 years, but most toddlers won’t be able to access the top; stairs or platforms would make it a lot easuer to get up.
Couple of criticisms:
-I wish the rest of the dragon was there (there’s also a body and tail section). Perhaps it didn’t fit safely into the park dimensions?
-For a brand-new playground that was completely rebuilt, it would have been nice to see some inclusive playthings at ground level.
Things to note:
-The playground is on wood chips, with a sand area and sand shovel near the toddler play structure.
-There’s no shade over the playground except for a bit on the edges.
-The park is fenced, but with a large opening at the road, and open at the back onto the adjoining bike path.
-There are lovely new picnic tables at the back of the park, adjacent to the nearby bike path, but again there’s no shade.