Sundance Elemantary School playground is on Bank Street tucked between Leighton and Oak Bay Ave, and it's awesome. Old-School Awesome. If you don't like old-school, don't even think about going there because I'm pretty sure that there has been no new equipment here this side of the eighties, possibly even the seventies. This playground could be right out of my childhood, except that it's on sand, woodchips and grass rather than concrete.
It may be old, but it's in great condition. It's design and look are outdated but it's not that faded-in-the-sun outdated that you see in the plastic playgrounds around town. before we go any further, this is a playground where you need to watch your little kids more closely because it was not designed with the safety features that we are used to today, and frankly, I am on the fence about whether this is a good or bad thing.
The playground has many features. The ones that immediately catch the eye are the three metal climbing frames- one rocket ship, one dome and one square cube-ish-laddery one. There is also a main log and metal climbing structure- which is probably the newest part of the playground. In my excitement to photograph the other features, I completely neglected to get photos of this one- but it's is plain, solid and has a few frills, climbing bars, a pole and a double metal slide. There are two toddler swings, two big kid swings, a swinging trapeze-like bar and swinging Olympic-style rings.
If that is not enough, there are some odd extras that you don't notice straight away. For a start, there is a long jump feature- a concrete running path with a sandpit at the end which I tried out several times before coming to the conclusion that flat slip-on shoes are not conducive to long jumps. Then, there are the strange little poles with balls on the end that I think must be for leap-frogging. However, there are 8 of them all in an-almost square and it makes me wonder if the school once had a leapfrog team that did mass group leapfrogging displays.
There are no public facilities in this playground but there are good grassy areas to play on, decent shade, nice rocky outcrops to scramble and climb on and if you like the old-school equipment then this is your dream playground.
This is the Sundance Elementary playground. The wooden structure is very close to being condemned as it is over 35 years old. Sundance has been doing fundraising and we will be a new playground built over the Summer so you will have to come back and check it out in the Fall. :)
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