COAL HARBOUR PARK PLAYGROUND

To the untrained eye, this playground is ground level to Hastings Street but you’d be surprised to know it’s also on top of the Coal Harbour community centre’s parkade. From it’s high vantage point, this spot overlooks Coal Harbour’s beautiful views of the mountains, busy seawall and Boaty McBoatface’s friends. There are two play structures here, plus a small creeky swing set, a courtyard and grassy lawn. The standard swing is unusually low, but it can be an advantage for toddlers wanting to try a big kid swing. 

The toddler play structure has a fun bendy tunnel to walk through, a tic tac toe panel above and a storefront panel below. In the middle are two spring riders – one triceratops and the other is a vehicle of some sort. The play structure for the older kids has bendy slides and a bridge that connects it’s two platforms. Below that is a unique panel that creates binary-like patterns. Like most aging playgrounds, the rubber surfacing is chipping away in some areas. 

It’s shady here in the morning and late afternoon, as the tall buildings and trees obscure the sun for parts of the day. There’s also a lush growth of bamboo shoots stemming from a large planter in the parkade below. It’s actually grown beyond the parkade’s ceiling and stretches out of a circular opening in the ground beside the playground. It’s pretty neat!