CAROLINA PARK PLAYGROUND

This playground at Carolina Park in Mount Pleasant left us with so many unanswered questions. The first and foremost question was, and still is, what the heck is going on with this clubhouse? Why is there no legroom?! Is it designed this way? Did they forget to install the legs? Did they go overboard with the mulch and bury half of it?

And one of the benches had no legs either. Is this place sinking!? Did someone cut off the legs? Why? Any why just this one and not the other two benches that are still at normal height?

A landscape architect friend gave me some insight into what might have happened here. Her guess is that the playground was built with plans for a different type of surfacing below. But for whatever reason, it was perhaps decided that woodchips were better after things were installed.

Bark mulch for playgrounds have to be at least 12″ deep to sufficiently cushion falling children so either the initial install didn’t factor in this height or someone went a little extra with the bark mulch here. With that said, the swings look like they’re normal height and the main play structure doesn’t look as heavily buried as the clubhouse so the confusion still remains. 

Detective work aside, Carolina Park playground has a 3 steering wheels, ladder, steps, small double slide and talk horn. The gears play panel is the same one at VGH Playground and the wire crawl tunnel is similar to the one at Oak Meadows Park Playground.

Location-wise, this space overlooks the North Shore mountains and also has a great view of the speeding skytrains and industrial vehicles. The perimeter is mostly fenced to prevent kids from accessing the steep drop down onto Great Northern Way, albeit an opening on the far side. This passageway leads to an foot path and stairs, which serves as a neighbourhood shortcut.

Be on the look out for some some thorny vines along the chain link fence, which snagged my jeans. Being that it was the beginning of Spring, the rose or blackberry vine could have been new growth that the City had yet to tend to. But if you find this hazard or any other issues anywhere, always feel free to call 3-1-1 or VanConnect to let the City know.

All in all, it’s a cute park, especially for the baby and toddler ages because well, some things are lower than they should be. My two year old definitely had to kneel to give out “woodchip crackers” from the store window panel and bend over a little bit at the lower-than-usual steering wheel.

Has a playground ever left you confused? Let us know if you have any stories to share!  Connect with us here, or on Instagram or Twitter.