Heritage Park is now open!

As promised, I'm getting back to you about the new park on Union Ave. ...

We made it over to Heritage Park today and were pleased to see that, although not completely finished, it is now open! I'm not sure what all needs to be finished but it looked to me like just some landscaping and attaching the basketball hoop to the pole.

I didn't get a chance to walk them, but it seems there are some paved and unpaved trails. Of most interest to my son, of course, was the play area. As I expected, he preferred to play on the "big kid's" equipment. It's supposedly for ages 5-12, but my 3 year-old navigated it just fine. I found the two play structures to be a little on the small side, but my son didn't seem to mind. He also liked the climbing rocks. I liked that there were some safe enough for him to climb and was glad he didn't try the taller, vertical ones. Notably missing from the play area are infant swings, but there are two regular swings.

The parking situation is a little surprising. Unless I missed another lot or something, it appears there are only 5 spots (plus 1 disabled spot)! Not to worry, though, there's lots of street parking along Union Ave. and along NE 3rd Ct.

There was no "Koala Kare" sticker on the men's restroom door so unless there really is a changing table in there and they forgot the sticker, you men are off the hook for diaper changes. I guess the city doesn't think dad's do diaper duty...

Side Note: Grab a cuppa' joe on the way to the park. Zip-Thru Espresso, with a drive-through window at the Jiffy Lube on the corner of NE 4th and Union Ave., has $2 drinks (any size)!

New park not open yet

Much to my (and my son's) great disappointment, Heritage Park (the new park on Union Ave. in the Highlands) isn't open yet. We went over there today and, although the dedication ceremony was this past weekend, I was told by a friendly guy in an orange vest and yellow construction hat that the park's not ready yet. Another guy said that it would hopefully be ready this Friday (6/22) but likely not till the afternoon. They said that we'll know the park is open when the chain link rent-a-fence is no longer there. I'll keep you posted on things.

What I saw looked great. Big open grassy area; play equipment for ages 2-5 and ages 5-12; climbing rocks; a basketball hoop; paved pathways; covered picnic tables; and bathrooms. There was a "Koala Kare" sticker on the door of the women's restroom, so that means there's a changing table in there, which is good news for those of us with kids not yet potty trained. The bathrooms are close to the play area, too, which is nice for those of you who have kids who are potty trained and need to get to a toilet fast!

I'll let you know more once we test it out...

New park in the Highlands!

A new park is opening in the Highlands! Called "Heritage Park", it's located at 233 Union Ave. A dedication ceremony is taking place this Saturday, June 16th. I am very excited to check it out and will report back to you soon.