Hillside Recreation Center

We visited Hillside Recreation Center on Fountain St. for the first time two years ago for a church baptism, and haven’t made it back until this summer. Since joining our pool club is too expensive (in my opinion), we finally stopped back at Hillside to pick up a pool schedule, and of course, to check out the playground.   First let me say, there is so much going on here!  There are summer camps and activities, softball leagues and swim clubs, and so much more.  I was really impressed.  One mom I spoke to said, “I really need to start taking advantage of this stuff.  After all, this is why we live in the city.” I so agree!

But, I’m here to talk about the playground so here it goes.  Like most playgrounds in the area, there are two playsets, one for the 2-5 set and one for the 5-12 set. What I think is fun about the playsets is, they are practically identical - only the older kid's playset is taller than the set for the younger kids.  Each have a twisty slide and a straight metal slide, a curved ladder and a spiral ladder and room to run around. There are also swings, a turtle to climb on and a hopscotch drawing.  There are a couple of benches for parents to sit on, and a bathroom inside the building, that I believe is open until 9 p.m. (I think that is what the lifeguard told me). Parking is on the street, and even with a softball game going on, I got a good spot.

The major downfall of this playground is that it is completely in the sun.  It’s a great place to play in the spring or fall when temperatures are cooler and the warm sunshine feels so good. The surface that the equipment is also a little hard.  I think it was probably soft at one time, but age as hardened it. Thing Two made a flying leap belly first onto a swing, and unfortunately landed on the ground on his face instead. He wasn’t hurt badly, but the poor little guy had burn marks from his nose to his chin!  

Overall, Hillside is a nice playground.  If it’s too hot on the playground, you can take a dip in the pool.  On the couple of visits we made, the lifeguard staff was super nice, so I’m sure if you are interested, you can more information from them about other Hillside activities.  Don’t forget to bring a lunch when you visit, because there is plenty of grass to lay out a blanket and enjoy a picnic.